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: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, January 17, 2015

Actor Jaycee Chan, son of kung fu megastar Jackie Chan was detained for smoking marijuana by Beijing police in August.

A series of bans to regulate showbiz

A document, dated Sept. 29 and issued by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), asked TV stations and film companies of all levels to urgently ban actors, directors and screen writers who have records of misdeeds.

Actor Jaycee Chan, son of kung fu megastar Jackie Chan, and Taiwan-born actor Kai Ko were detained for smoking marijuana by Beijing police in August. Several high-profile figures were also arrested for drug use in 2014, including singer Li Daimo, director Zhang Yuan, actors Gao Hu, Zhang Mo and Roy Cheung, screen writer Ning Caishen, TV hostess Wang Jing and popular Chinese singer Yin Xiangjie. Award-winning director Wang Quan'an was also detained on suspicion of paying for sex in September, while TV actor Huang Haibo was detained by police after being caught with a prostitute in a Beijing hotel.

But this is just one of a series of bans by Chinese media and cultural watchdogs.

China's press authority has issued rules to tighten management on information including state secrets received by journalists during their work. Journalists are banned from illegal copying, recording, or storage of state secrets, according to the rules released by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television on June 30.

China's cultural authority restricted domestic artistic troupes from performing at famous venues abroad in July, as many such events are deemed to be publicity stunts rather than a pursuit of artistic merit.

China also tightened rules on celebrity advertising in August which prohibited endorsers from endorsing products and services before using them themselves. Many popular American TV shows including the "Big Bang Theory" were removed from Chinese video websites for policy reasons and in the future foreign TV series will hit China much later, as authorities strengthen censorship.

What's more, a series of websites that provide Internet users with free subtitles and downloads were also shut down due to legal reasons and a large online piracy crackdown.