In China, the world-famous heroes Winnie the Pooh and Peppa Pig were banned. The Chinese authorities have decided to reduce the "ideological flow from the West" and promote their own literature and cinema, writes life.ru.

The State Administration for Printing and Publishing, Cinematography, Broadcasting and Television of the People's Republic of China demanded that the publishing of foreign children's literature be restricted in the country. Chinese publishers have been ordered to cut back on foreign illustrated books, films and cartoons. Quotas will be introduced for Chinese authors and artists. Thus, officials intend to promote the national culture, rich in its own characters.

Among children's works, dozens of books and cartoons were banned. Among them were such popular characters all over the world as Winnie the Pooh and Peppa Pig, as well as the work "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Analysts from the newspaper of the Chinese People's Liberation Army are actively criticizing the cartoon "Zootopia" for its corrupting effect on children.

At the same time, Internet giant Taobao was forced to ban the sale of all foreign literature on its platform. Earlier, the country's universities were also subjected to restrictions, which, if possible, were recommended to exclude foreign textbooks.

Parents opposed the ban

But parents don't want to support the prohibition policy in the country foreign works. Social media users called criticism of the cartoon "Zootopia" a return to the days of the "cultural revolution", which the current authorities condemn.

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The criticized cartoon "Zootopia" provided a record amount of fees in the country, as opposed to the ideologically sustained film "The Great Wall" by Zhang Yimou. Despite widespread publicity and participation Hollywood stars The film almost failed at the local box office.

Winnie the Pooh and Peppa Pig have become the favorite characters of Chinese children. The American and British editions occupy all children's picture books. Local authors are not popular in the country. According to a resident of Hong Kong, there are "too many words and moralizing" in the books of Chinese authors. However, under conditions of strict censorship, it is very difficult for authors to write "live" piece of art. This can explain the huge popularity of the American cartoon "Kung Fu Panda" based on Chinese culture, which caused bewilderment among the Chinese authorities.

The market for children's books in China is huge: more than 220 million readers under 14, more than 40,000 publications per year. There are fewer and fewer books by local authors, since it is more profitable for publishers to acquire already known works.

Recently, films and cartoons co-produced with China have become increasingly popular. On the one hand, this allows foreign films to bypass the quota for foreign films and strict censorship. On the other hand, the works are increasingly acquiring a Chinese tinge and bear the stamp of Chinese ideology.

The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.

Many citizens are alarmed by the desire of the country's Communist Party to change the law in such a way as to allow the incumbent head of state to remain in power indefinitely. Stop criticism this proposal censors came from the side of the citizens ..

Too much criticism forced the authorities to take unprecedented measures

In general, it cannot be said that Xi Jinping does not enjoy popularity in the country and the support of the people. However, the movement to abolish presidential terms has revived deeper fears in Chinese society, where memories of China's founding father Mao Zedong's personality cults and the fear of a return to the past have lingered.

In an attempt to quell criticism of Xi Jinping, the country's Communist Party censors attempted to infiltrate the Internet and social networks to curb popular rumor, which is considered subversive. On this wave, it was forbidden to use images from the children's fairy tale "Winnie the Pooh", through which those who disagree portrayed the current head of the PRC.

The ban was imposed on two works by George Orwell "1984" and "Animal Farm", and on books about civil war in the underworld. It was also forbidden to use requests - "my emperor", "for life" and "shameless", "disagree". Even English letter The "N" has been censored, coming under attack due to its use in the phrases "N terms in office", where the N stands for an indeterminate number.

It is worth noting that the ban on in one sense or another applies in different countries. For example, in Belgium they decided to restrict access to this method of communication to children under 13 years old. But in this case, the ban is absolutely understandable, it was supported by the citizens of the state, since everyone has long understood the destructive impact of adult content on the fragile children's psyche.

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Disney-drawn teddy bear: Users believe that the ban on the use of images with the cartoon character is due to his imaginary resemblance to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Officially, the ban has not been announced, and the Chinese authorities have not yet commented on what is happening, although censorship is already working. "MK" remembered what other politicians were compared with popular cartoon characters.

The Chinese microblogging service Sina Weibo has banned users not only from posting pictures with images of Winnie the Pooh, but also from mentioning his name in the text of posts - if you try to do this, a warning about the use of illegal content is displayed. As suggested by users, the restriction is aimed at preserving the reputation of Chinese President Xi Jinping and preventing him from being compared with a teddy bear with sawdust in his head.

Such an allusion occurred not only to China, but also to the world community back in 2013, when one of the netizens noticed that Xi Jinping and former US President Barack Obama, walking alongside, resemble Winnie the Pooh and Tigger from a Disney cartoon. Later, a series of comparisons continued, noting that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks like a sad donkey Eeyore from the same cartoon. For Chinese society, where censorship of the Internet has long been a common practice, such parallels are unacceptable.

However, forest friends of Christopher Robin are not the only ones with whom Internet users have compared famous politicians. So, for example, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was compared by the Russian public with Freken Bock from the cartoon about Carlson, who lives on the roof, in the very episode where the housekeeper exclaims "I've lost my mind ... What a shame!". Later, she, along with the Kid, began to be depicted on Internet memes in the image of the new French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Bridget - we recall that a solid age difference, and in favor of the French first lady, became a reason for ridicule immediately after the announcement of the results elections in Paris.

The new US President Donald Trump was more fortunate - he is compared ... with himself on the cartoon screen. In the animated series "The Simpsons", and in the series of the 2000s, there is an episode where the main characters discuss certain candidates in the elections - among them was the Republican Trump.

Image copyright AFP/Weibo Image caption This meme of Chinese President Xi Jinping and former US President Barack Obama appeared on the Internet in 2013

Chinese Internet censors banned the mention of Winnie the Pooh. It would seem that seditious can be in a teddy bear with sawdust in his head? It's just that this is a prime example of how Chinese bloggers deftly circumvent the restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities.

When is a wristwatch not just a wristwatch? When does river crab mean more than just river crab? Of course, when you are behind the "Great Chinese Firewall" and trying to write something about the leaders of the country.

The popular teddy bear has been added to the black list of intricate designations of the leadership of the party and government.

Bloggers compared the Chinese President to a charming and voracious bear, so now posts containing the Chinese name of Alan Alexander Milne's character or his image are blocked.

It all started with a photo of Xi Jinping shaking hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. It was written on the faces of the leaders of the two countries how hard this formality was given to them. The Chinese Internet immediately found similarities with the handshake of Pooh and Eeyore.

Then there was a photo of Xi Jinping receiving the parade, standing in his "Red Flag" limousine with a specially made hole in the roof. It reminded the wits of Winnie the Pooh in a car.

Image copyright Weibo/AFP

The point is not only that the censors will not tolerate mockery of the head of state. They can't let their favorite childhood character become an online euphemism for the Secretary General.

In other countries, such jokes would be turned aside, and somewhere they would even be considered positive PR. But in China, this number does not work.

Xi Jinping is a man in a case. He never does anything stupid, doesn't have any oddities, and doesn't make any mistakes, and that's why he's taller. ordinary people, and there is no doubt about it.

Former Chinese leader Hu Jintao had a favorite slogan about "building a harmonious society," or, in Chinese, 和谐 (hese).

Censorship as "harmonization"

Bloggers started calling censorship "harmonization" - 被和谐了 (bei hese le). But in Chinese, changing the tone or order of characters can radically change the meaning of a word. If you pronounce the word "hese" with a different intonation, you get "river crab" - 河蟹. Therefore, bloggers began to write and post pictures of river crab, and readers guessed by consonance that we are talking about censorship. This continued until the pictures themselves and the word "river crab" were censored.

Image copyright Empics

Another Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin, liked to talk about the "theory of three representations" - san ge diabiao - 三个代表. If you modify the phrase - give san ge biao - it will mean "carry three wrist watch". This became an ironic designation of his contribution to the construction of "socialism with Chinese characteristics."

Bypassing the Chinese censors is not at all easy.

For example, they managed to destroy almost all mention of the name of the main Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who died on last week after several years in prison. In any case, most Chinese citizens have never heard of him.

If you have anything to do with China, try this simple experiment to test how censorship works. In China, everyone uses the WeChat messenger - indeed, almost everyone.

Sit next to a friend who also has WeChat. Send a message to "Liu Xiaobo".

On your phone, it will all look like the message is gone. Your friend won't get anything.

China launches virtual cops online

Chinese censors can introduce into the censorship mechanism any keywords and stop the unwanted discussion for them.

Messengers and party line

WeChat is a private company, but even the Chinese tech giants have to stick to the party line.

Winnie the Pooh, by the way, has already been banned. Now it has been banned again, because the time for the CCP Congress is approaching.

This event is held every five years, and it, among other things, approves the composition of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee - these are the seven top leaders of the Chinese political system.

Xi Jinping will use the congress as an opportunity to consolidate his power, bring forward allies and push away those he sees as rivals.

It is believed that in the Chinese system, the top leader holds office for two terms, after which he leaves. However, this rule is not fixed anywhere, it has simply been a trend in recent years.

And President Xi has made so many enemies with his anti-corruption campaign that many question how safe it will be for him to leave power in five years.

And if he wants to stay, he will have to demand absolute, unquestioning loyalty from his associates.

Jokes, even the most harmless ones, are completely inappropriate in this environment.