Censorship and soft power pressure 'stifling China's arts'
Artists say regulators' oversight is hindering the chance to promote Chinese culture globally
Wang Yuanyuan, the director of the Beijing Dance Theatre, was traumatised when the mainland tour of her ballet production was suspended by regulators last year. She has now become much more cautious through fear of falling foul of the censors again.
"We don't want such things to waste the enormous amount of effort we put in," the internationally acclaimed choreographer said. "But once you have such worries, you begin to limit yourself in what you feel you can do, and then you can't truly explore your artistic potential."
The ballet was inspired by the classic - and banned - erotic novel of the same name and was a hit at several festivals around the world, including the Hong Kong Arts Festival in 2011.
Wang said a revised production was later allowed to go on tour in the mainland under a different name.
She saw no problem with the original production, which she said was an artistic representation of the novel without the graphic sexual content contained in the book. The censors thought otherwise, and recorded copies of any future productions have to be vetted before the ballet can be put on stage.
This conflict between artists and regulators poses a dilemma for the Chinese government. On the one hand, it wants to maintain a tight ideological grip on the arts, while also increasing its "soft power'' by promoting Chinese culture overseas.
