China’s crackdown targets ‘sissy idols’ and gender rights
Entertainment purge joins big business and education hit by new cultural revolution
President Xi Jinping has launched a new cultural revolution with draconian characteristics.
In what has been called “national rejuvenation,” the ruling Communist Party is shredding the last threads of progressive policy.
Already Beijing has reinvented the business landscape. Now, the Party is stifling limited personal freedom, spanning gender, culture and religion.
Last week, plans were announced to crack down on the entertainment industry, as well as singling out “sissy idols.”
“Abnormal aesthetics such as ‘sissy men’ should be rejected, and exorbitant pay for stars and morally corrupt performers should be banned,” the National Radio and Television Administration stated as reported by state-run China Daily.
Targeting pop culture is just the latest move in a broader overhaul of the way the country operates under the political ideology of “Xi’s Thought.”
Laws and orders:
- Xi’s government has tightened control on Big Tech industries.
- It has launched anti-monopoly, data security and other regulations on social media and gaming.
- Small- and medium-sized tech companies are being encouraged to break the online hold of Alibaba, Tencent and ride-hailing group Didi.
- The property sector and education have also been targeted.
- School children will now be taught the harsh political doctrine of “Xi’s Thought.”
- The Party’s new gospel is also entrenched in academia, big business and the PLA military, as well as the judiciary.
- The doctrine has 14 main principles, emphasizing “Communist Marxism” ideals.
Pop goes culture: “Those who break laws or go against public order and morals will not [be] allowed to appear on entertainment programs,” the National Radio and Television Administration reported.
Big picture: Announcing the measures, the Party’s propaganda [machine] accused some in the entertainment industry of bad influence on the young and of severely polluting the social atmosphere,” entertainment bible Variety said.
Delve deeper: The raft of regulations can be broken up into two segments. The first is aimed at big business and is part of Xi’s “common prosperity” push. The second revolves around “Xi’s Thought” and a broader clampdown on liberal views such as gender rights.
China Factor comment: The Party’s grip has been tightened on all aspects of life in the country.