Beijing Targets Megastars and Their Fan Clubs

WASHINGTON/TAIPEI - After a spate of scandals involving megawatt stars, China is undergoing what state-backed media bills as “much-needed” reform -- a crackdown on the entertainment industry that has some analysts hearing echoes from the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s.

An article posted on China’s super app WeChat in late August signaled what was coming. Quickly reposted by major state media outlets such as People’s Daily and Xinhua News Agency, the article was titled “Everyone Can Feel This Reform Coming.” “The Chinese entertainment industry stinks,” it said. “With no reform, not only the entertainment industry but also the cultural performing arts, film and television industry will be ruined.” By September 2, China’s National Radio and Television Administration had published a new set of guidelines banning artists with incorrect politics, purportedly to protect youth from “bad influence” and the “social atmosphere” from “severe pollution.” The directive also advocated for “professional, authoritative critiques” of performers and putting “political correctness and the socialist values above all forms of arts.”