China cracks down on showbiz for ‘polluting’ society and youth

BEIJING: China ordered broadcasters on Thursday to shun artists with “incorrect political positions” and “effeminate” styles, and said a patriotic atmosphere needed to be cultivated, widening a crackdown on its booming entertainment industry. After years of runaway growth, regulators have been to trying to strengthen control over Chinese society by tightening oversight over a broad swathe of industries ranging from technology to education and culture.


Two government ministries, a party agency and an industry association published fresh guidelines on Thursday, with the party’s publicity department blasting some in the entertainment industry for their alleged bad influence on the young and for “severely polluting the social atmosphere”. Penalties should be increased for actors who have engaged in illegal or unethical behaviour, and agencies which condone such behaviours punished, said the notice.

The NRTA, a ministry level body, said it will bolster regulation of stars’ salaries and punish tax evaders. It also said it would weed out any content in cultural programmes that it deems unhealthy. The notice further said that programmes portraying “effeminate” behaviour and other content deemed “warped” should be stopped, along with shows built around scandals, ostentatious wealth and “vulgar” internet celebs. Unhealthy fan culture should be deterred. Authorities and state media have criticised male stars who favour make-up and carefully styled hair and project a feminine image, saying Chinese boys should become more manly. Some comments on Weibo were critical of the guidelines. “Actually aesthetics should be diverse,” said one, with over 20,000 likes.