BEIJING — The list of American entities caught in rising tensions between China and the United States is growing: Nike, Apple, Gap and the National Basketball Association, to name a few. Now add another: the Eastman Philharmonia, a group of more than 80 student musicians at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. The school, part of the University of Rochester, this week canceled a planned tour of China after three South Korean members of the orchestra were unable to obtain visas, apparently in retaliation for South Korea agreeing in 2016 to deploy an American missile defense system. While there is no official ban on South Korean artists in China, many have had difficulties performing there in recent years because of tensions over the defense system, which China has angrily opposed as a threat to its own security.

Source: International New York Times October 30, 2019 08:44 UTC