Censorship in China: Xi Jinping’s regime prepares list of songs it considers subversive to ban them from karaoke

Chinese government’s Ministry of Culture is preparing list of songs it considers subversive or contrary to the country’s national unity to ban their reproduction in karaoke rooms, according to an official document.

The karaoke rooms will be responsible for the music played and remove any song which “endangers national unity, sovereignty or territorial integrity or prejudices national security, honor or interests”, according to the text of the ministry published on its website and collected by the newspaper South China Morning Post.

Likewise, the songs that “Incite ethnic hatred”. Instead, the ministry commits to songs “healthy”, “which promote positive energy” and related to the position of the regime.

The document does not include any particular title, but Chinese authorities have already banned songs with political, anti-social or vulgar content such as “I like Taiwanese girls”, “Fart”, “Beijing Hooligans” or “I don’t want to go to school”.

The Freedom House specialist in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China Angeli Datt asserted that it is no coincidence that the list is prepared after the centenary of the Chinese Communist Party, whose congress was marked by the concern for dissent.

“They point to the karaoke song archive in the context of a larger plan to attempt to impose the Chinese government’s extensive system of information control over all aspects of the entertainment industry.”, he said.

“They want to ban foreign, religious or political content and promote a traditional and conservative culture with the party at the center”added.

Chinese media scholar Gregory Welcome, from the Sorbonne University, said, according to the South China Morning Post, that Beijing regards karaoke as a useful tool to distract people from government mistakes, sensitive political issues like Taiwan and Hong Kong, and foreign influencesas long as you can control the messages of the songs.

“These places (karaoke bars) offer a very useful activity to absorb the energy of young people through popular music, dancing and drinks – distracts political thoughts. So it’s no surprise that you have to control the list of songs that are offered in karaoke rooms, ”he said in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

“Maybe it’s part of Xi’s main plan to monitor any type of cultural expression -which he’s been doing since 2013-, whether with cinema, hip-hop and now karaoke, “he added.

Last year at least a hundred karaoke songs have been banned, places very popular with young people. In 2018 they were banned more than 6,000 songs for political reasons and mainly copyright.

However, banning specific songs or artists may have unintended consequencesWelcome remarked.

“It is very likely that this will work as a free promotion for those who are banned from karaoke”he added.

Welcome gave as an example the repression of hip hop in 2015, in which many Chinese classics of the genre have been banned. One band, called In3, was banned from 17 songs and detained for five days. In a few years, the group and the genre as a whole have gained popularity in mainland China.

(With information from Europa Press)

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