A man wears a face mask depicting the coronavirus while celebrating Halloween at Lan Kwai Fong, a popular nightlife in Hong Kong, China, on October 31, 2020.
Tyrone Siu | Reuters
China on Thursday ordered broadcasters to shun artists with “wrong political positions” and “effeminate” styles and said a patriotic atmosphere needs to be cultivated, expanding the crackdown on its booming entertainment industry.
After years of fugitive growth in the world’s second-largest economy, regulators have sought to tighten control over Chinese society by tightening oversight of a wide range of industries ranging from technology to education and culture.
Communist Party authorities can censor anything they believe violates basic socialist values and already have strict rules on content ranging from video games to movies and music.
The latest moves governing the entertainment industry come as a result of a series of celebrity scandals involving tax evasion and sexual assault.
Two government ministries, a party agency and an industry association on Thursday issued new guidelines, with the party’s advertising department blowing up some of the entertainment industry for its alleged bad influence on young people and to “seriously contaminate the social environment.”
Sanctions should be increased for actors who have engaged in illegal or unethical behavior, and agencies that accept such punished behavior immediately, the party’s warning said.
The ideological and moral education of children should be strengthened and they should be denied access to activities of “idol” groups, the notice adds, while party cadres at all levels should “recognize deeply ”the importance of“ modeling ”future generations.
The NRTA, a ministerial-level body, said it would strengthen regulation of star salaries and punish tax evaders. He also said he would remove any content from cultural programs that he considered unhealthy.
Last week, China’s Internet regulator said it was taking action against what it described as a “chaotic” culture of celebrity fans.
The selection of actors and guests should be carefully monitored, with political literacy and moral conduct included as criteria, NRTA said, adding that performers should be encouraged to participate in public welfare programs. and take on social responsibilities.
The notice also said that programs that represent “effeminate” behavior and other content that is considered “distorted” should be stopped, along with shows based on scandals, ostentatious wealth, and “vulgar” celebrities on the Internet.
The culture of unhealthy fans should be deterred and strict controls should be established on programs with voting segments, and anyone who encourages fans to spend money to vote should be banned.
“Effeminate” stars
Separate notices also released Thursday by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Chinese Performing Arts Association said performers, such as live stars, should receive regular training in professional ethics, while agencies should terminate contracts. with performers who “lack moral discipline.”
In addition to lamenting the cult culture of celebrities, state authorities and the media have criticized male stars who favor heavy makeup and hair with a careful style and project a female image, saying Chinese boys should be more masculine.
Some “effeminate” stars are immoral and can damage teenagers ’values, according to an opinion piece published in the Guangming Daily on August 27, written by a former military newspaper official.
When these stars act as soldiers fighting in the war against the Japanese (a popular setting for Chinese movies and TV shows), they also make the “fair” and “heroic” characters look childish, according to the piece.
A popular video maker in Douyin, a small video platform, suspended its account in late August after complaining it was too “effeminate.”
Some comments on the social networking site Weibo were more critical of the new guidelines for the channels.
“Actually the aesthetic should be diverse,” one said, with more than 20,000 likes. “Isn’t that kind of discrimination?” said another highly valued comment.
Chinese celebrities have attended state-sponsored courses to learn about the history of the Communist Party and have carried out “self-criticism” in the past two months in response to the crackdown.
At an event in Beijing in late August, movie stars Zhou Dongyu and Du Jiang read aloud a statement criticizing stars who had “crossed the bottom line” and urged animators to never become “market slaves” and that they were accountable to society, according to a video in local media.
Artists must “bravely climb the artistic heights under the leadership of the (communist) party!” they said, amid applause.