Completely arbitrary censorship of local TV:
huxiu.me/post/104062705961/what- … -of-chinas
[ul]Crime dramas involving murder and programmes developed from online games must not be broadcast during the prime time[/ul]
[ul]Presenters from Hong Kong and Taiwan are not allowed to present for a Mainland-made show for three episodes in a row[/ul]
[ul]Two channels, run by Ningxiang and Gansu TV stations, were banned from commercials for displaying too many boob job adverts[/ul]
[ul]The whole process of a talent show was limited to two and a half months at most. Text-message voting was banned. A show could not be broadcast live for more than ten episodes. And live episodes could last no more than 90 minutes, and could start only after 5pm[/ul]
[ul]TV stations across the country were stopped playing dramas about espionage, time travel, crime from mid-May to July, the month when the party was considered to be founded. They could only play “red dramas”, shows about the Communist Party’s history[/ul]
Truly an awful government.
I’m more concerned about their one child policy than anything else. Reproduction and family are starting point or the foundation of personal freedoms I think. To deny people that is basically to deny them life.
Their time travel show bans are pretty ridiculous though :loco:
Well their detention of even moderate dissidents without charges and then life sentences on trumped up charges, or their occassional massacres, would probably be at the top of my list. This is just a less-often cited example of why the People’s Republic of China is not the best China.
I guess you’ll also be passing on Singapore then?
From the Wikipedia:
[quote]The Media Development Authority […] constantly monitors and provides feedback on broadcast content. Permissible content on Singaporean TV is minutely regulated by the MDA’s Free-to-Air Television Programme Code.
Part 5 of the Code states that TV programs “should not in any way promote, justify or glamorise” homosexuality in any form. […]
Part 7 of the Code states that “Gratuitous and graphic portrayals of violence, such as cutting up body parts and spurting of blood, should be avoided.”, and that programs “should not glamorise or in any way promote persons … who engage in any criminal activity” […] resulting in predictable storylines considered “ethically correct”.
Part 12.3 of the Code states that use of the local English-based creole Singlish “should not be encouraged and can only be permitted in interviews, where the interviewee speaks only Singlish.”
Part 12.4 of the Code states that “All Chinese programmes, except operas or other programmes specifically approved by the Authority, must be in Mandarin.”[/quote]
Singapore FTA TV Programme Code (not for the feeble-hearted)
At least China allows Taiwanese (Minnan) songs. And Chinglish. 
It’d be pretty hard to come up with the worst thing they’ve done or do I guess 
I have sometimes wondered what it would be like if all of China was like Taiwan. It doesn’t seem impossible and it’d be a very different world…
As for Singapore, I will be visiting there in a couple months though I don’t see myself attempting to settle there. It’ll be interesting to check it out, though 
I don’t watch TV. Problem solved. There are plenty of reasons to be critical, but access to Taiwanese telly and boob job culture aren’t them.
But seriously, I get the point. At some point China will figure out that no outliers means cultural stagnation. Slow process.
Just trying to use google in China is a nightmare. Last time I visited I could barely function as the internet was so slow and so many websites were down or throttled to hell by their firewalls.