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Reuters
A man covers an art piece by Beijing-based artist Chi Peng with paper after government officials from the cultural bureau deemed it unfit for display before the inauguration of the SH Contemporary Art Fair at the Shanghai Exhibition Center on September 6, 2012.
Reuters
Government officials from the cultural bureau inspect artworks before the inauguration of the fair.
Reuters reports — The pot-bellied official in a tan golf shirt paused in front of a poster-sized image for a few seconds, asked a member of his entourage to make a note of it, then continued to lead the group on its awkward march through the Shanghai Exhibition Center.
A few hours later, the digitally manipulated photo of China's legendary Monkey King facing Tiananmen Gate, by Beijing-based artist Chi Peng, was pulled from the wall, one of several works at the SH Contemporary Art Fair deemed unfit for display by Shanghai's culture police.
"It's especially sensitive this year because the 18th Party Congress will start soon," said a fair organizer after trying to convince another booth to remove a painting that censors didn't like because it appeared to include images of Mao Zedong. Read the full story.
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Reuters
Workers cover an art piece after it was deemed unfit for display. Censorship of political content has long been a feature of the Chinese art world under Communist Party rule, but gallery owners and artists at SH Contemporary were told on Thursday that city officials were being extra careful ahead of a once-a-decade leadership transition set to take place in Beijing next month.
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Here's your freedom of speech and expression, China. Same as always. A population of 1.3 billion controlled by the iron fist of about 100 'more equal than others' in the communist government. A regime change is way past due for China.
I find this to be no different than the censorship of books and textbooks by the Christian zealots in the U.S.
And our altering of history and science books in different states is different how?
My ex-girlfriend's sister was one of these gushy liberals who loves every culture but her own, regardless of their intrinsic evil. She went to China during the Beijing Olympics and described how people lived in highrises with no elevators or running water, walked miles to work in factories, poverty was the norm, etc. - but she LOVED it, thought it was quaint.
Good God, I despise libs and communism.
I think you might've mixed a few details. I also lived in a Shanghai high-rise. But there's running, hot water, elevators and poverty isn't the norm but a lot of people live squarely within their means.
The ones who don't were probably endowed by their provisional parents. All that being said, not that I love anything besides the people here but life here does teach you what you do and don't need and you do find appreciation for little things.
As a general rule I never would live in a capital city, though. Not Beijing, not D.C. not Tokyo as those tend to be the craziest places to make a life. But there's nothing especially wrong with urban China. Unless you've been here, you really have no ability to say what does and doesn't happen here or what does and doesn't exist here.
I'll tell you what doesn't exist here: an actual bona-fide communist. Politicians and people here are just as capitalistic and concerned about the almighty dollar as you or I. In a way, their size and that fact are what contribute the most to the retrograde motion of progress here.
Turning your own argument against you, though, how can you can you rag on another country you've never been to while glassing over the intrinsic evil that so compromises the quality of life of people in your own country?
A true patriot is a critic and an effector of his own country. There'll never be a perfect nation on Earth, but persecuting the imperfect among others isn't virtuous. Pursuing it among your own is.
The message of this news piece should be clear: Thirty-one years of open trade with China has FAILED to transform China into a democracy. Instead, we have financed totalitarianism!
What unpatriotic American fools are behind the Communist Party of China? Members of the American Republican party, that's who, and Mitt Romney, particularly.
It's high time that we review our trade policy with China, a nation that is bullying its neighbors, a nation that suppresses the values that we have in America, and a nation that is devouring American jobs!!!!
=>PW
Amazing! China boasts of it's military prowess and strength and is fearful of an in inanimate object hanging on a wall.
The Monkey is seen as a symbol of Rebellion in Chinese Culture, therefore it is a target of censorship as the Political Leadship change over comes to pass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Wukong
I have been optimistic for the slight changes in the attitude of the Chinese government towards human rights and free speech. However, this shows that in China, Art is NOT for ART's sake. I really liked the previous story of the Male transexual Dancer in hope that story was an indication China was about to join the World community in not persecuting people because they are different.
I have many Chinese friends and have often wondered why Mao has not ever allowed the Communist to appreciate America for helping China against the Japanese as they were being slaughtered by millions. But as I have seen the history of Mao, and seen him allow his wife to pronounce a death for one of his generals as the "Death by a thousand cuts" for being sucessful and thus taking some of the credit for doing a good job in history and in the media, I see though he was just a jealous despot much like the historical Juleus Caesar.
I saw the film on the internet as I google "Executions" of the General being sliced to death to please his wife. I go to their News Sites obviously run by the government and see the huge military complex they maintain. And then I see other news sites where China is flexing its muscle towards the Philipeans and pacific.
They are testing America in particular to see how far we will yield before pushing back. My question is why do we need to stand around and have pissing contest like a bunch of adolescent boys? Our world is a fragile place and we do not have another. It is very different than when a small country like Japan or Germany could try to conquer the world.
I would think that a Chinese leader would have read Confuious, or at least learned from the astute American Philosopher, Rodney King, who said, "Can't we all just get along?".
Lazarus