State media slams censors after Skyfall cuts

Xinhua has published a rare admonishment of government censors for cutting and manipulating scenes in the latest James Bond movie, which hit mainland cinemas this week.

The state media organ said the censorship, which almost every foreign film goes through before reaching Chinese cinemas, highlighted a problem with the nation's movie-review system - that is, that decisions about cuts and changes to films are often arbitrary. In some cases, Xinhua reported, an anonymous letter drove what content was cut.

However, government censors rarely, if ever, admit that content is cut or altered. All foreign movies are subject to review by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, Xinhua said.

Among the Skyfall scenes censors deleted was one in which a French hitman kills a Chinese security guard in a Shanghai skyscraper.

A scene depicting prostitution in Macau was also cut, as was a line spoken by Bond's nemesis mentioning that Chinese security agents had tortured him.