VIENNA – "Disgusting'' United Nations officials currying favour with China have prohibited a young violinist from performing in a concert at the UNO City in the Austrian capital because she has a Taiwanese passport, the newspaper Heute reported.

 “Heaven full of violins for a musician couple from Vienna,” Heute said, “because she has the ‘wrong passport,’ a 33-year-old is not allowed to play in UNO City.”

 “The Taiwanese native was supposed to delight the audience with festive music at a Chinese event in UNO City this week. But instead of the hoped-for euphony, there was nothing but trouble, reports her husband Michael L., 34.

 “Before the concert, we musicians had to send our passport copies to the organizer,” the cellist told Heute. The “formality” took a bad turn: Michael L.’s wife was not allowed to play at the concert – because she had the wrong passport.

 "We received the message that my wife, as a Taiwanese citizen, is not allowed to enter the United Nations and therefore is not allowed to play," said Michael L. "That is not only disgusting, but above all discriminatory and degrading."

 Heute commented that “Chinese saber-rattling towards Taiwan has repercussions as far away as Vienna. The conflict has been simmering for 70 years, but this year the conflict came to a head. China denies the island its independence and wants the province back -- experts even believe war is possible.”

 According to Michael L., his wife is also losing income due to the alleged discrimination. "It's a job that she's being denied. It's also about a fee, of which she now only gets a part. We've had numerous freelance gigs every month for ten years, but nothing like this has ever happened to us."

 Michael L. also made the case public on Facebook - there are already dozens of comments and likes. “Today” website asked the press office in Vienna’s UNO City for a statement. The employees there were not told anything about the incident.

 "As far as we know, everyone who applied to attend this event was accepted and no one was rejected. We have not received direct communication from anyone who reported that they were denied entry," writes a UN spokesman to “Today.”

 The anti-discrimination agency ZARA in Vienna was also informed of the incident, Viennese media reported.

 jf