'Empress of China' cleavage censorship 'lacks authority' state media

Chinese censors should pay more attention to public opinion, a state-run newspaper argues, after an online backlash over the removal of all cleavage from a TV show about China's only female emperor

TOO MUCH CLEAVAGE? Fan Bingbing as Wu Zetian in the TV show 'The Empress of China.' Image via Sina Weibo

BEIJING, China Chinese censors should pay more attention to public opinion, a state-run newspaper argued Wednesday, January 7, after an online backlash over the removal of all cleavage from a TV show about China's only female emperor.

Empress of China, about the Tang dynasty ruler Wu Zetian, who came to power at the end of the 7th century, was abruptly taken off the air soon after its debut on satellite station Hunan TV late last month, ostensibly for "technical reasons".

When it returned a week later, the show which stars actress Fan Bingbing in the title role had been conspicuously edited so that shots of female characters in mildly revealing period dresses were instead tightly cropped to remove any sight of the bulge of a breast.

The move ignited the fury of China's Internet users, who contended that censors had gone a step too far and had sought to rewrite the country's fashion history.

The Global Times newspaper, which is close to the ruling Communist Party, noted in an editorial that while the censorship was "largely done out of moral concerns", the resulting public outcry should serve as a warning for the future.

"While it is powerful, censorship lacks authority," it said. "In this sense, when using censorship, more considerations should be given to public opinion to garner support and avoid similar incidents."

The rules governing censorship in China are opaque and reasons are not provided for why cuts are made, but negative portrayals of contemporary politics are often banned, as are revealing scenes and issues that authorities believe could lead to social unrest.

The Global Times insisted that the system of control was necessary. "The reality is that censorship exists in many countries and it is unlikely to be reversed in China," it wrote.

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'Empress of China' cleavage censorship 'lacks authority' state media