Blog #5: Chinese Media

On Thursday when Li Shi talked to our class she sparked my interest in censorship in China. Before she came to speak to us I knew that the Chinese government censors their newspapers but I had no idea that they basically censor everything including online video games. According to a 2004 article from chinadaily.com China banned the Swedish PC game "Hearts of Iron" for "distorting history and damaging China's sovereignty and territorial integrity" it was also accused of "distorting historical facts in describing the Fascist regimes of Japan, Germany and Italy during World War II." The Chinese Ministry of Culture screens all foreign games before they are sold in China. The Ministry also banned a Norwegian game called Project IGI2: Covert Strike because "the game was accused of intentionally blackening China and the Chinese army's image as a freelance mercenary fights in the game across three linked campaigns in the former Soviet Union, Libya and China, where he steals intelligence and conducts sabotage in China and shoots at China's soldiers while China's national flag and signs like 'China Aviation' pop up frequently."
The censorship includes movies too. Many films have been banned in China for various reasons. The most recently banned film was Avatar because the Ministry thought the theme of forced removal would incite violence against the Chinese government. In 2007, the government banned The Departed. According to an article on eonline.com "there is no chance The Departed will be shown in mainland cinemas, because [filmmakers] declined to change a plot line in describing how Beijing wanted to buy advanced military computer hardware." 
President Obama summed it up perfectly while he was holding a town hall meeting in China when he said "the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes."