TV personalities have been asked to abandon "queer" dressing and "colorful" hairstyles, and to mind their language.

The new rules, issued last week by the State Administration of Radio, Film and TV, also say that in principle no more crime-related movies or television shows will be imported.

"The rules are intended to reduce the negative impact of queer dressing and behavior on youngsters," said Xu Caihua, an official at the Shanghai Administration of Culture, Radio, Film and Television. "The administration published similar regulations before, but they were not followed closely. Now the administration is exercising great efforts to get the new rules implemented."

TV personalities have been told that they should not wear excessively fashionable clothes or those that are too revealing. Hair should not be dyed too colorfully or worn in unusual styles.

The "purposeful imitation" of Hong Kong or Taiwan accents, and the mixing of English words and phrases with the Chinese language - common in entertainment programs - are also banned. Use of Putonghua, or standard spoken Chinese, is now compulsory for TV hosts.

Show hosts have also been directed not to cater imprudently to the tastes of small minorities of the young.

Audience responses are mixed.

"It is time to regulate those posturing hosts and hostesses who deliberately imitate their Hong Kong and Taiwan counterparts. That's very irritating," said Chen Wen, a mother who lives in Shanghai. She believes weird clothing and speech hinder the healthy development of impressionable youngsters.

Ma Yuhua, 21, a student at Shanghai Normal University, disagreed. "Unlike serious news programs, it is natural for entertainment programs to be carried out in a relaxed atmosphere. Brilliant clothing and flexibility in speech certainly can make the program more dynamic and carefree."

Yang Mingzhi, editor of a local entertainment program, said: "So long as the hostesses' clothing doesn't lower the program's tastefulness, I don't see any problem with having a more fashionably dressed hostess to attract more viewers."

A more discreet TV-host dress and speech code is only part of the campaign. Television and cinemas as a whole are to be made less sexy and violent.

The new regulation bans imports of programs or films whose themes are deemed unfit for China's social system and national conditions. Imports will be subjected to more severe censorship and scrutiny, with plots, pictures or words considered harmful to morals or society deleted.

Programs that propagate Western ideology and politics should not be imported, and genres as well as country of origin must be diversified.

Domestically made programs or movies are to dominate television prime time, from 7:00 to 10:00 PM.

Last month, the administration banned the broadcasting of crime-theme sitcoms between the hours of 5:00 and 10:00 PM, and later prohibited the production and broadcast of computer-game-related TV programs.

(eastday.com, China.org.cn May 17, 2004)