Posts Tagged ‘China’
December 15th, 2011
The
Chinese government is
planning to tighten its already strict film censorship rules. A proposal from the State Council, released on their website earlier today, is part of a draft law which proposes to ban anti-government sentiments and messages of religious fanaticism from the cinema screen. If passed, the bill, which comes during a box-office boom in China, will increase the number of
banned subjects in Chinese cinema to 13. Another proposed ban could also prevent any film from “promoting” illegal drugs or terrorist activity.
November 7th, 2011
A group of petitioners
attempting to visit blind Chinese activist
Chen Guangcheng were beaten on 30 October. According to petitioner Zhu Jindi, as the group of 37 supporters made their way to Dongshigu in Shandong province, where Chen remains under illegal house arrest, 100 people appeared and beat the group, confiscating their mobile phones and cameras. Li Yu, a democracy activist from Sichuan, was severely beaten and thrown into a police car with two other petitioners. Li is still missing, though the other two individuals were released on 2 November. Other activists
have reported similar incidents when attempting to visit Chen, who fell foul of authorities in 2005 for his work in exposing forced abortions in Shandong province.
October 7th, 2011
Increasingly
strict media regulations are being applied to dating shows in
China. Shows such as “
If you are the one,” which have been highly successful in the country, are being subjected to regulations from the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (
SARFT). The administration has recently banned ”fake participants” who seek publicity, “morally provocative” hosts, and sexual references in all entertainment shows. Some fans have said that the new restrictions have made the shows less entertaining.
October 6th, 2011
Two citizen journalists face trial in
Vietnam today for operating
pirate radio to China. Vu Duc Trung and Le Van Thanh face charges of illegally retransmitting radio programmes after they began broadcasting Chinese-language programmes from
Sound of Hope Network, a Chinese radio station based in California. According to a Vietnamese
Public Security Ministry document, the programmes, which were critical of the Chinese government, were the subject of a note to the Vietnamese authorities, asking them to stop the broadcasts. The trial, which was due to begin today, has been
postponed for the second time.
September 26th, 2011
The
Chinese authorities are
holding a group of South Korean journalists from a daily newspaper on suspicion of spying. The group, which is believed to consist of four journalists, the head of a Seoul-based government transport research centre and a local guide, were arrested near China’s border with North Korea on 20 September whilst reportedly travelling on tourist visas.
September 26th, 2011
Earlier this year, the arrest and detention of Ai Weiwei, China’s most famous artist and Index contributor, caused an international outcry. In an exclusive interview with Index, celebrated sculptor Anish Kapoor explains why artists have a duty to take a stand for freedom of expression
(more…)
September 23rd, 2011
Video game fans awaiting the release of Diablo 3 in
China fear that the game will be
heavily censored. Amid reports that the game has entered the
beta-testing phase, rumours that it is quite bloody are making Chinese fans nervous that they will face a toned-down version, as they did with World of Warcraft. The Chinese version of World of Warcraft, made by
Blizzard the same company as Diablo, was changed. Gamers took to Weibo with comments such as “#Diablo3# We’re not asking for much, just to play the goddamn original version, as long as it’s not censored it’s fine…”
September 21st, 2011
A journalist covering the house arrest of a blind
Chinese Chen Guangcheng activist had her passport stolen and was forcibly removed from the activist’s villiage earlier today. Rachel Beitarie from Calcalist and Israel radio reported via
Twitter that she had her passport stolen, and was taken to the suburbs of Linyi, Shandong province and abandoned whilst covering the story.Chen Guangcheng served a
51 month prison sentence for disturbing public order following accusations that officials were
forcing women to have abortions. He was released in September 2010, but has been under house arrest in Linyi since then.
