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Canto-pop singers Denise Ho Wan-sze (left) and Anthony Wong Yiu-ming join a march in the streets to demand universal suffrage in Hong Kong. Photo: David Wong

Communist youth arm runs online poll on 'how to punish pro-Occupy HK celebrities'

More than 270,000 people in China have backed a suggestion to impose sanctions against Hong Kong celebrities who voice support for pro-democracy protests in the city.

More than 270,000 social media users in mainland China, voting in an online poll by the Communist Party’s youth arm, backed a suggestion to impose sanctions against Hong Kong celebrities who voiced support for pro-democracy protests in the city.

The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) started a poll on its official Weibo account at 1pm on Tuesday, asking microbloggers how they would like to “sanction unscrupulous celebrities" who "blatantly supported the illegal Occupy Central protests”.

The survey was criticised for not giving respondents the option of opposing any sanctions. Instead, it gives four choices of punishment for the celebrities, ranging from banning them from work to launching boycotts.

The poll – which allows users to cast a vote only once – will close in a week. 

Some 77,000 people (more than 30 per cent) said they wanted the stars to be restricted from working in films and have their work banned from being broadcast in the mainland.

Some 23 per cent favoured boycotting their films and songs.

The remaining 37 per cent were almost evenly split between censoring all mention of the celebrities online and unfollowing them on social media.

The CYLC grooms elite Chinese youth between the ages of 14 and 28 to becoming full-fledged members of the Communist Party. Chinese premier Li Keqiang and former party chief secretary Hu Jintao had both helmed the youth league earlier in their political careers.

The criticisms poured in too as the survey went viral, attracting 50,000 reposts. “The options are too one-sided. They do not [allow] any other opinions,” Shenzhen-based lawyer Yi Zhao commented on Weibo.

While the partisan-worded survey may simply be an attempt by the league to gauge public opinion, Robert Cain, an industry expert with the entertainment production firm Pacific Bridge, said it was very possible that outspoken Hong Kong performers could be punished.

“They could be barred from performing in the mainland and their works could be subjected to distribution prohibitions,” he said in an e-mail interview with the . “It could be very damaging to their careers.”

Pacific Bridge says on its website that it has more than 25 years of experience in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. Cain runs the website ChinaFilmBiz.com.

The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, the powerful government apparatus that regulates films and music in China, did not reply to repeated requests for comment on Wednesday.

There has been a fair number of Hong Kong celebrities who have publicly supported the Occupy Central protests, which is pushing for a free choice in the election of officials, particularly in the 2017 chief executive race. The protests, which has seen major roads blockaded by protesters, have lasted for 25 days.

Singer Anthony Wong Yiu-ming, Canto-pop singer Denise Ho Wan-sze and actor Chapman To Man-chak have all visited the main protest site in Admiralty to show their support.

Award-winning actor Anthony Wong Chao-sang and pop singer Hins Cheung led celebrities in a music video of , which became a theme song of the protests.

However, their support has provoked criticism from some famous peers. Veteran Hong Kong director Wong Jing last week announced he would formally sever ties with Wong Chao-sang, To and Ho because he “could absolutely not agree with their political stances”.

Mainland scriptwriter Lu Tianming, one of the more vocal critics, publicly appealed for the state media authority to issue temporary restrictions on Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities who “incite independence from China”.

International action star Jackie Chan – who once caused a stir for urging limits to demonstrations in his native Hong Kong, which he deemed a “city of protest” – expressed concern about the economic damage caused by the protests. Jackie Chan also urged people to “love our nation, love our Hong Kong”.

Actor Jordan Chan and a number of other celebrities publicly said they voted against the Occupy Central in an earlier public poll held in Hong Kong.

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