Mr. Shangkong | Will James Bond bow to Beijing's censorship?
Mainland China is not yet on the official list of locations where Skyfall, the new 007 movie is scheduled to be released
Will James Bond decide that discretion is the better part of valour and kowtow to the Chinese government to avoid endangering Skyfall’s potentially huge box office in the Communist nation?
This is the burning question that’s on everyone’s lips online -- well, Chinese 007 fans, anyway -- since Skyfall, the 23rd - and latest - movie of the lucrative film franchise about British secret agent James Bond, also known as 007, was released in Hong Kong on November 1.
Taiwan is on the list; the movie was released there on November 2, one day after making its debut in Hong Kong. Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. China has regarded Taiwan as a renegade province ever since 1949.
So, if the movie distributors have brought Skyfall to Taiwan and Hong Kong, why not Mainland China yet? From Beijing’s perspective, there may be a tiny little problem with the plot that needs to be tweaked.
A key baddie in the movie is Raoul Silva, a former British MI6 agent who was stationed in Hong Kong, for about ten years between 1986 and 1997 – yes, that was the year when China took over. Pay attention, because this is all part of the plot.