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China Censors Entertainment
China is busily shining up its image before the Beijing Olympics begin in August.
Government officials have launched programs that are designed to clean up the roads, air and water. And just for good measure, there’s a clamp down on free expression.
Hollywood critics of the U.S. should take a look eastward and leftward to see the real deal when it comes to government censorship.
China has been muzzling dissenters for decades. But now the government realizes that protests, which can come in the form of songs, plays and other forms entertainment, might be embarrassing when the whole world is watching.
New rules, imposed by the Ministry of Culture, ban performances by foreign entertainers who have participated in activities that the Chinese government labels as threats to sovereignty.
“Those who used to take part in activities that harm our nation’s sovereignty are firmly not allowed to perform in China,” the Web site of the Ministry of Culture reads.
Musicians, singers and other performers who are viewed by government officials as promoting ethnic hatred or “obscenity or feudalism and superstition” will be prohibited from performing.
In other words, if the government doesn’t like your words, songs or acts, you won’t be able to say, sing or perform them.
Chinese officials have set up security checkpoints throughout Beijing, deported some foreigners or refused to renew visas, and shut down protests.
The government may have imposed the new rules in part because of a March 2008 Shanghai concert by Icelandic singer, Bjork.
After the singer finished a song from her 2007 “Volta” album, titled “Declare Independence,” she began to shout the words: “Tibet! Tibet!” This resulted in a predictable outcry from posters on the content-limited Chinese Internet.
Beijing had pledged to the International Olympic Committee that it would conform to international human rights standards.
The country has already breached the promise and is likely to continue to do so.
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Boren's Laws of the Bureaucracy: 1. When in doubt, mumble. 2. When in trouble, delegate. 3. When in charge, ponder.
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