Ozzy Osbourne, diplomat? The music icon/ drug-addled punchline, or, as Reuters calls him, “satanic- theme rocker,” will sponsor the Taiwainese band ChthoniC and its government-supported efforts to stir up support for Taiwan’s U.N. membership quest. ChthoniC will join this summer’s Ozzfest tour, and, according to Reuters, Ozzy will help out with transportation costs and let the band promote Taiwan’s U.N. membership. That will no doubt include performances of “UNlimited Taiwan,” ChthoniC’s song that “seeks to express Taiwan’s boundless vitality and its efforts to overcome international restrictions, isolation and prejudice,” says Minister Shieh Jhy-wey of the Taiwanese Government Information Office. Great. But if the band is going to take the message to the Ozzfest masses, one question remains: Does it rock? 

I believe so. Listen for yourself at ChthoniC’s MySpace page.

It’s a goofy way to promote U.N. membership, to be sure, but what does Taiwan have to lose? Since leaving the United Nations in 1971 due to what Reuters calls “Chinese pressure,” Taiwan has made 14 attempts to re-join the world body. It has failed all 14 times. From Reuters: “China blocks self-ruled Taiwan’s applications every year because it sees the island as part of its territory and not a separate country.”

Somehow, I don’t think a few death metal songs are going to sway the Chinese government this time.

Related on World Hum:
* Rocking Diplomacy: Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships
* China, Taiwan to Officially Discuss Opening Island to Mainland Tourists
* On the Bus with Hong Kong’s ‘Long Hair’