11/01 Faye's song [In The Name Of Love] banned in China

[vunsin]

Source : Utusan Malaysia (Malaysian newspaper)

China bans pop song with "opium" lyrics

BEIJING Nov 1 - China has banned a song in an album by Hong Kong pop diva Faye Wong after government censors ruled the lyrics about opium - a word that evokes Western domination for some Chinese - would harm young people.

The censors objected to the song "In The Name of Love" (Jia Ai Zhi Ming), which includes the line, "opium is warm and sweet,'" the state-run Xinhua News Agency and newspapers said. The album is titled "Love War."'

"Relevant departments banned this because they thought the lyrics were too decadent and will influence the health of young people,'' Xinhua said on its web site.

An employee of Shanghai-based distributor Xinsuo Music Co., said the version to be released inside China would include the other 12 songs on the original version. The employee refused to give her name.

The album is due to be released throughout Asia in November, the employee said.

Xinhua said censors made the decision after Wong's record company submitted the album Oct 24 for review.

Phone calls to the legal department of the Ministry of Culture after working hours on Thursday weren't answered.

Communist leaders are acutely sensitive to pop culture references to opium - a reminder of the country's colonial era.

China's domination by foreign powers dates to the Opium Wars of the 1840s, when Britain attacked China over Beijing's ban on imports of the drug by British merchants.

China lost the war and was forced to hand over Hong Kong, beginning a century in which foreign governments seized control of large swaths of the country.

Wong was born on China's mainland but lives in Hong Kong. She often ranks as China's top-selling female vocalist.

Jean Yau, a spokeswoman for Wong's record company, Sony Music Entertainment (Hong Kong) Ltd., said she had no information about the ban. - AP

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Wow... They banned that song in China? Just because of the reference to opium? Gosh... This is ridiculous! How could this song possibly "harm young people" as they've feared? Well, it's sad that this song has been banned in China. They don't know what they're missing! For those of you who haven't heard this song, it's here: http://www.jay-chou.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6706&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[cowboy]

If China's logic were correct, then all those rock n roll songs and rap songs about sex, drugs, and breaking the law would have transformmed me into a hard-core criminal. :nocommen:

Huh, seems that's a false premis if I've ever seen one. The only thing that should be banned is government censorship of art.

Down with censorship!!!! :thumbsdo:

[cici bebe]

I agree, don't they know that banning only makes kids more curious? Like, when they banned Meteor Garden, all the kids were wondering why they banned it and just wanted to watch it more. >_<

[Vant]

Ya gotta understand... Opium is a tender subject in China... Many countries took advantage of China's opium thirst... Even Hong Kong was lost to Britain (The main country which took advantage) due to the Opium wars... Now... I know I can't prove this or anything... But to many people... Opium wars is just like 9/11 in america... We all lost something inside... And for China's case it was the power to run their own country (Which they gained back in time)... Now singing about airplanes crashing into skyscrapers isn't exactly good music to america is it?

[cowboy]

Actually there are a lot of songs about crashing planes into buildings in America now. Of course the songs don't glorify it, what kind of sick f**k would do that. I understand that opium is a "tender" subject in China, but that doesn't justify censorship. All censorship leads to is closed minds, and how can the world progress with a closed mind?

The issue is not whether or not opium is bad or not (that's an entirely different issue), the issue is censorship and whether or not it is justified for a government to censor art. I personally believe that it is reprehensible for a government of any kind to think that I am utterly incapable of deciding whether or not I should listen to a song or not. I'm sorry but no Juntao or Bush is my daddy, and I can make those kinds of decisions for myself. If this song is truly offensive then capitalism will kill it because no one will buy it or anything else Faye Wong releases.

Leave censorship to the consumers, and keep the government out.

BAN CENSORSHIP, NOT MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!! :ranting:

[Pugwash]

Kinda stupid of them to ask me. As big as opium is in China, it still creates a lot of confusion and curiousity for people. e.g. Now that it's international news, people want to know what the heck they're talking about, what is this song. If this news was never posted, not everyone would've known.

After playing all those first person shooters and still, do you see me going around fraggin' people? It's ridiculous.

[babyxv]

China bans a lot of stuff. They banned Meteor Garden because F4 ditched school all the time. -__-b would anyone really be that curious? to go out and get opium because of that one line?

[vunsin]

No, certainly nobody remotely intelligent would try opium just because of that one line. That's exactly the point. Chinese citizens are NOT stupid, so the government should stop treating them like they are.

Also, censoring everything and anything would discredit some more reasonable censorships. When they do censor something that should rightly be censored, nobody would care (about the consequences) because they just assume it's the government having another fit.

And Vant, no offense, but we all already know what opium means to China. Afterall, that's what the article was all about. So you don't have to repeat the facts... And like cowboy has mentioned, merely mentioning the sensitive words doesn't mean we're glorifying those themes. But not mentioning them doesn't mean they'll cease to be a part of our history. Why not just learn to deal with them?

[jAy is a s h y_ b o i]

i don't think they would be able to buy opium.....o__O; i love faye. i remember listening to her when i was little hahah. i used to sing her songs and dance like her lol. =X i want her to release a cantonese album tho. =P