Chinese comedy troupe hit with US$2 million penalty for making jokes about People’s Liberation Army
- Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media has been given an indefinite ban on performing in Beijing after a stand-up made fun of the army at a show in the capital
- The city’s regulator says a joke mocking a PLA slogan was ‘humiliating’ to the army while the police are now investigating the performance
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Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media was ordered by the Beijing city cultural and tourism regulator to forfeit 1.3 million yuan (US$186,000) in income from performances in the capital and fined 13 million yuan (US$1.9 million), the regulator said in a notice issued on Wednesday.
“The company and actor Li Haoshi wantonly tampered with the preapproved content of the performance,” the notice said. “There was humiliating material against the People’s Liberation Army in two performances in the afternoon and evening of May 13, causing very bad social effects.”
In addition, the notice said the company had been suspended indefinitely from performing in the capital city.
The notice did not give further details about the offence but reports on China’s social media said Li had made fun of a popular PLA slogan about winning battles, comparing it to two dogs chasing a squirrel.
“We will never allow any company or individual to wantonly slander the glorious image of the army on any stage in the capital city … or to make fun of serious subject matters,” the Beijing regulator statement said, calling on the industry to “correct their creative thinking”.
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Beijing city police have also opened an investigation into Li’s performance, according to a statement posted on the social media platform WeChat.
The regulator in Shanghai has also taken action, suspending the troupe’s performances in the city, issuing a reprimand and ordering the company to undergo “rectification”.
Meanwhile, the China Association of Performing Arts issued a notice telling its members to boycott Li. The association also asked institutions to strengthen the management and education of performers, and the industry to further strengthen self-discipline.
Xiaoguo and Li both apologised on Monday. The company also promised to start the process of rectification on Wednesday, setting up a department to review performances and avoid “ignorance that leads [us] into crossing political red lines”. It has also terminated its contract with Li, who uses the stage name House.
Li, whose Weibo account has been suspended, said he regretted the controversy and that he had used a “very inappropriate metaphor”.
The PLA’s Western Theatre Command ground forces weighed in on Monday, posting an article on WeChat criticising Li’s words as “shameless remarks” that had caused “real feelings of provocation, insult and outrage”.
Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily also commented in a Weibo post, saying the entertainment industry should be careful with its words and warning stand-up comedians to stay within boundaries.
Reaction was divided on the social media platform Weibo, with some users expressing anger at Li’s words while others defended him or said the angry reaction was over the top.
“I don’t see a big problem in his comments. The country has no creative freedom at all. There are too many red lines in cultural art, and this reality is not fun,” one person wrote.
Other comedians have previously been punished for making jokes the authorities did not find funny, but the penalties in this case are far higher.
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Last November, stand-up comic Li Bo was fined 50,000 yuan for joking about the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in Shanghai and teasing teenagers.
