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CNN reported that a Chinese comedian’s joke loosely referring to a slogan used to describe the country’s military cost an entertainment company more than US$2 million after hefty fines were imposed by Chinese authorities.
The severe punishment underscores that comedians must go along with the tightening social climate and widespread censorship in China, as well as the dire consequences for those in the entertainment business who are believed to have crossed it.
Lee HaoshiHis stage name is Al-Bayt, and he caught the authorities’ attention this week after using a word associated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).Chinese People’s Liberation Army) during a comedy gala at the Century Theater in Beijing over the weekend.
As the official criticism intensified, Lee canceled all his performances, and the company representing him, Shanghai Xiaoguo Cultural Mediaapologies, according to CNN.
The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism announced Wednesday that one of the company’s subsidiaries will be penalized US$1.91 million and stripped of US$189,000 in “illegal gains” — an apparent reference to Li’s two live events last weekend. The company was also banned for an indefinite period from performing in the capital.
On Wednesday night, Beijing police announced the launch of an investigation into Li, saying his performance had “deeply insulted” the military and had a “bad social impact”.
In 2021, China passed a law banning insults and slander against military personnel.
A former investigative journalist was sentenced to seven months in prison last year after questioning China’s role in the Korean War as portrayed in a blockbuster patriotic movie.
My joke may sound benign to many.
During the show, he started a sketch of how he would adopt two stray dogs, after coming to Shanghai, according to CNN.
According to an audio recording recorded on the Chinese social networking site Weibo, he indicated that their chasing after a squirrel one day reminded him of eight phrases before he unleashed the controversial punch.
“Good work style, able to win battles,” he noted, referring to the People’s Liberation Army with a well-known slogan of the Chinese Communist Party.
The phrase was first used by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who also heads the military, in 2013 when he put together a list of qualities he expected from the country’s military. It has since been repeated in other public functions and in state media.
Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media is one of the largest producers of stand-up comedy shows in the country.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Beijing authorities held that Li’s performance on Saturday involved “a plot amounting to a serious insult to the People’s Liberation Army and causing bad social impact.”
“We will never allow any company or individual to arbitrarily slander the glorious image of the People’s Liberation Army on a platform in the (Chinese) capital, and we will never allow the people’s deep feelings to hurt soldiers, never, ever,” the cultural authority said. allowing serious subjects to be turned into entertainment.”
Lee has already apologized to his followers on Weibo by writing, “I will take all responsibility and cancel all my shows to think deeply and re-educate.”
CNN reported that Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media has suspended the comedian from all productions indefinitely.
The severe punishment underscores that comedians must go along with the tightening social climate and widespread censorship in China, as well as the dire consequences for those in the entertainment business who are believed to have crossed it.
Lee HaoshiHis stage name is Al-Bayt, and he caught the authorities’ attention this week after using a word associated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).Chinese People’s Liberation Army) during a comedy gala at the Century Theater in Beijing over the weekend.
As the official criticism intensified, Lee canceled all his performances, and the company representing him, Shanghai Xiaoguo Cultural Mediaapologies, according to CNN.
The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism announced Wednesday that one of the company’s subsidiaries will be penalized US$1.91 million and stripped of US$189,000 in “illegal gains” — an apparent reference to Li’s two live events last weekend. The company was also banned for an indefinite period from performing in the capital.
On Wednesday night, Beijing police announced the launch of an investigation into Li, saying his performance had “deeply insulted” the military and had a “bad social impact”.
In 2021, China passed a law banning insults and slander against military personnel.
A former investigative journalist was sentenced to seven months in prison last year after questioning China’s role in the Korean War as portrayed in a blockbuster patriotic movie.
My joke may sound benign to many.
During the show, he started a sketch of how he would adopt two stray dogs, after coming to Shanghai, according to CNN.
According to an audio recording recorded on the Chinese social networking site Weibo, he indicated that their chasing after a squirrel one day reminded him of eight phrases before he unleashed the controversial punch.
“Good work style, able to win battles,” he noted, referring to the People’s Liberation Army with a well-known slogan of the Chinese Communist Party.
The phrase was first used by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who also heads the military, in 2013 when he put together a list of qualities he expected from the country’s military. It has since been repeated in other public functions and in state media.
Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media is one of the largest producers of stand-up comedy shows in the country.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Beijing authorities held that Li’s performance on Saturday involved “a plot amounting to a serious insult to the People’s Liberation Army and causing bad social impact.”
“We will never allow any company or individual to arbitrarily slander the glorious image of the People’s Liberation Army on a platform in the (Chinese) capital, and we will never allow the people’s deep feelings to hurt soldiers, never, ever,” the cultural authority said. allowing serious subjects to be turned into entertainment.”
Lee has already apologized to his followers on Weibo by writing, “I will take all responsibility and cancel all my shows to think deeply and re-educate.”
CNN reported that Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media has suspended the comedian from all productions indefinitely.
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