SHANGHAI: Female models in tight dresses and miniskirts may be banned from one of Asia’s premier car exhibitions in Shanghai this year.
The Chinese government is concerned about what it sees as increasing vulgarity in society. A crackdown on pornography and freedom of expression more generally has intensified since President Xi Jinping assumed office in 2013.
Victor Yang, the spokesperson for Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, told on Friday that the company has received verbal notice from the Shanghai autoshow organiser that no models can be used at the week-long event, from April 20.
An official at the Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai, one of the main organisers of the show, said such a restriction was “under discussion” and a decision would be published soon. He did not elaborate.
Auto promoters in China, as in many other places, often employ models to jazz up their stands. The models often seem to get more attention than the cars, especially from shutterbugs in the crowd.
Government censors faced a backlash from Chinese internet users this month when a television drama about a Chinese empress was scrubbed of all footage showing actors’ cleavage.
Major web portals have also been under pressure to rein in what the government considers “harmful” content.
While the news, circulated on microblogs, triggered some criticism, Yang said it would be a positive move for car makers.
“An autoshow is an industry event to showcase cars, not beautiful models,” he said.
Earlier in January , a Chinese television drama that was pulled off the air after the female characters appeared on screen showing cleavage returned to the screen, though this time showing only the actors’ heads, state news agency Xinhua said on Saturday.
The drama, The Empress of China also known as the Saga of Wu Zetian, was removed by commercial satellite station Hunan TV for “technical reasons” in late December, Xinhua said.
“Many viewers speculated the suspension was a punishment given by the country’s television regulators for the much-discussed revealing costumes of female characters on the show, which stirred online debate in which the female characters were dubbed ‘squeezed breasts’,” Xinhua said.
The move comes as the government, which is usually wary about political and sexual content, intensifies a crackdown on freedom of expression, both online and in traditional media.
Chinese internet users responded by complaining about the censorship on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. Several complained that they would not be able to see the hundreds of costume changes by Fan Bingbing, one of China’s most popular actors, who plays the Empress Wu.
Others questioned whether the low necklines had to be banned on television.
“Can revealing cleavage really be considered pornographic?” wrote a microblogger. “Isn’t this feudalism?”
Wu, the only recorded empress of China, ruled the country in the seventh century.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2015.
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