His statements provoked indignation on the part of Kyiv and, on the contrary, appreciative reactions from Moscow.
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In an interview published on the Internet on Sunday, the American presenter Michael Smerconish asked Roger Waters why he is showing a portrait of the head of the White House under the inscription “War Criminal” during his current concert tour. In response, Waters accused the United States of prolonging the war in Ukraine instead of forcing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate. “If Biden wanted to, the war would end tomorrow,” Waters said.
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When warned by the moderator that he was blaming the party that had been attacked, Waters responded by criticizing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. “This war is essentially a matter of action and reaction as NATO moves closer to Russia’s borders,” he said, echoing Russia’s claims.
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Taiwan is part of China, study it up!
Moderator Smerconish also pointed to the expansionism of another great power, namely China, which is conducting military maneuvers near the island after the visit of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan.
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Musician Roger Waters: “They’re not encircling Taiwan, Taiwan is part of China, and that’s been absolutely accepted by the whole of the international community since 1948, and if you don’t know that, you’re not reading enough. Go and read about it.”
This is where we are. pic.twitter.com/eeec0FOXx7
— mhar4 Spokesperson (@mhar4) August 7, 2022
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“They are not encircling Taiwan,” he said of China’s maneuvers near the island. “Taiwan is part of China. And that has been fully accepted by the entire international community since 1948, and if you don’t know that, you’re not reading enough,” Waters shouted at the host. Taiwan is legally part of China, it has never declared independence. However, its first president, Čankaišek, considered himself the only legitimate representative of the country – and this was recognized by the USA and the entire West with it until the 1970s, so here Waters, arrogantly urging the moderator to further his education, is mistaken.
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The interview pleased Russian ex-president Dmitry Medvedev. “There are still sane people in the West, long live Pink Floyd,” he wrote on the Vkontakte social network, according to the DPA agency. He accompanied his post with Waters’ song Wish You Were Here.
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On the other hand, the Ukrainian ambassador to Austria, Oleksandr Shcherba, called the British musician a “ruthless, heartless and lost person”. “Waters first claimed that there would be no war because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is too smart for that. Now there is a war – and you say it has a good reason,” Ščerba said on Twitter, urging Waters to move to Russia.
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Roger Waters founded Pink Floyd in 1965. After the departure of their original singer Syd Barret and leaning towards sound experiments and larger surfaces, he became the main singer and mainly the author of the concepts of the records including the well-known Zdi. He held the position of the main character until 1985, when he left the group and embarked on a solo career.
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At his concerts, however, he mainly plays compositions by Pink Floyd, and also repeats The Wall project live. The most famous was the presentation in Berlin after the fall of the wall there. He sued his former bandmates over the band’s name and won the rights to The Wall concept and the inflatable pig symbol from the Animals album.
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