Chinese state media reportedly censored one of its own videos after viewers noticed it referenced a Chinese poem about corrupt leaders ignoring the national crisis.
The video made by official state media was intended to highlight the city of Hangzhou. The Asian Games will be organized there this month.
However, a poem by Lin Sheng, written in the twelfth century, raised eyebrows. The poem can be interpreted as criticism of the rulers of the Song dynasty. Corrupt officials are accused in the poem of fleeing troubled areas to enjoy the drunken life in Hangzhou.
The poem is well known in China and is generally not censored, but by combining the poem with the images the whole could be interpreted as political satire. When the video was removed, it had already been viewed 130,000 times.
The Chinese state media’s error comes shortly after a new bill was proposed that would criminalize comments, clothing or symbols that “undermine the spirit” or hurt the “sentiments of China.”
Political commentary is strictly controlled in China.
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