Censors step in after Chinese TV drama scene names Xi Jinping as ‘traitor’
Names of Chinese president and other top leaders featured in period drama scene listing spies from the rival camp
A scene in a Chinese period drama showing President Xi Jinping’s name on a list of “traitors” has been censored after screenshots of it were circulated online.
The scene, which appeared in an episode of the Qin Empire 3 drama series, was aired on state broadcaster China Central Television last Tuesday.
It showed the names of Xi and other top Chinese leaders including Premier Li Keqiang, former president Hu Jintao, former premier Wen Jiabao, written in ancient Chinese script on bamboo slips.
In the show, the names on the bamboo slips listed traitors who were spying for the rival state of Zhao that the Qin army was trying to identify.
The surname Zhao, or “a member of the Zhao family”, is a euphemism used in recent years to describe China’s rich and powerful elites. The term has its roots in Chinese writer Lu Xun’s political satire The True Story of Ah Q, which featured a wealthy landlord who went by that surname.
