Over the past week, China's entertainment industry has become the latest to be targeted by the ruling Communist Party, after Xi Jinping cracked down on political dissent, social activism, ideological liberalism and private enterprise, CNN reports.
Jiao Wei, one of China's most prominent actresses, has seen her presence wiped from the country's internet. Her fan page on the Weibo app, China's heavily censored version of Twitter, has been shut down. The movies and television shows she starred in were removed from streaming platforms, and her name was also removed from the cast list.
Broadcasters and video sites have also removed the works of Zhang Shuang, another top Chinese actress who was fined $46 million on Friday for tax evasion. She was caught up in a surrogacy scandal at the beginning of the year, after her ex-partner accused her of abandoning two of their babies in the US.
The erasure of the image and work was seen of "celebrities behaving badly" allegedly blacklisted by Chinese authorities, which was posted on social media on Thursday, reports Nova. The two actresses were on the list, as was Canadian pop star Chris Wu, who was arrested this month on suspicion of rape. It was not immediately clear why Djao became a target, reports CNN.
While the government has already been the target of criticism from some Chinese celebrities, the latest crackdown is broader in scope and harsher in severity, with their presence largely erased from the country's internet, which fans likened to the formation of a black hole after a star collapses.
Authorities have also targeted the culture of celebrity fans among China's youth. China's Cyberspace Administration also announced Friday measures to clean up what it called the chaos of celebrity fan clubs, including banning any attempt to rank celebrities based on popularity and tightening regulations around talent agencies. A day earlier, the popular video platform canceled all idol talent shows, calling them unhealthy.
Some comments on Chinese social media said the suppression and erasure was reminiscent of the Chinese Revolution, a decade of political and social turmoil between 1966 and 1976, during which art and culture were restricted to promoting party propaganda.
The Communist Party, which views popular culture as a key ideological battleground, has long held the entertainment sector under strict censorship. Under President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party has become obsessed with ideological and cultural control.
On social media, actors, singers, influencers and other entertainers have often acted as staunch defenders of the Chinese government, speaking out in support of the Hong Kong police during pro-democracy protests in 2019... Successful actors have also rushed to star in patriotic films and TV series, and celebrities are forced to pledge millions in donations when a major disaster strikes.
The party believes that the extravagant lifestyle of some celebrities is a sign of moral decay. A party anti-corruption official has hit out at what he calls "toxic" celebrity culture, accusing it of "promoting the wrong values" to China's youth.
The party is also troubled by the loyalty of celebrities to their fans, who have shown a remarkable ability both online and offline to mobilize in support of their idols.
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