Li Haoshi, better known by the stage name House, referred to the slogan of the Chinese army in his show on Saturday. After the testimony of a member of the public, the Bureau of Culture and Tourism in Beijing decided to launch an investigation. It was ruled that the comedian with the “serious insult” had broken the law and had “a negative social impact” as a result.
In addition to the fine, all Xiaoguo Culture Media events in Beijing and Shanghai have been suspended indefinitely. Both Haoshi and the production house have already apologized at the request of Beijing, even before the sanction was announced. They themselves called the joke “an inappropriate metaphor”.
“We will never allow any company or individual to needlessly denigrate the glorious image of the people’s army on the capital’s stage and hurt the people’s deep feelings for their army,” the authorities said.
On Weibo, the heavily censored social network most popular in China, the topic went viral on Wednesday. Most responses supported the authorities’ decision.