There has been some further information uncovered – in the form of the actual licenses for the Oasis shows. So, the Ministry of Culture in Beijing did issue licenses for the shows (Shanghai on Feb 11, Beijing on Feb 2) for the full 41 members of the travel party. You can find the licenses here.
http://www.ccnt.gov.cn/zwxx/xzxk/t20090203_61169.htm
If anyone has any idea what really happened, can they please tell us. We can’t be bothered to speculate any longer (although we probably still will)…