Why of course, blackmail COULD have been part of the picture. But I can’t help thinking that in such a scenario, whoever on the Chinese side dreamed this up would have known there would be blowback from flaunting a movie which is an obvious lie. I’m leaning towards the theory that this was a protest move on the part of the pianist, or requested by a “friendly” or one of his relatives.
It’s kind of hard to see it that way, especially because of the rich propaganda value of it back home.