China will prohibit non-masculine men from appearing on TV, according to a new regulation.
“Broadcasters must ‘resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal esthetics,’ the TV regulator said,” reports The Associated Press. The regulations are reportedly designed to “vigorously promote excellent Chinese traditional culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture.”
Furthermore, “vulgar internet celebrities” are not to be promoted. The move seems to reflect “official concern that Chinese pop stars, influenced by the sleek, girlish look of some South Korean and Japanese singers and actors, are failing to encourage China’s young men to be masculine enough,” reports AP.
The ban comes as the Communist state announced new regulations on video games as well.
Starting on Friday, minors will be limited to three hours of online gaming per week, and the three hours can only be played on weekends, during specified time slots.
Many believe the rollouts of the new rules are part of China’s attempt to enforce conformity and strengthen its society from outside influence, which the government views as harmful.
“From the economic realm, the financial sector to the cultural circle, and to the political field, a profound transformation, or a profound revolution, is taking place,” said nationalistic blogger Li Guangman, as quoted in the Daily Mail.
“This is a political transformation … returning to the original mission of the Communist Party of China, returning to the people centralism and returning to the essence of socialism,” Li said.
On top of its attempts to assert control over China’s cultural sphere, the CCP has been making increasingly forceful and often violent attempts to bend its populace and surrounding entities to its vision.
On its Eastern borders, in the province of Xinjiang, China has been persecuting members of the Uyghur Muslim population and putting them in concentration camps.
As The Daily Wire reported back in March, “Currently, between one and three million Uyghur Muslims are interred in hundreds of concentration camps across the region, according to Reuters. The camps are massive complexes, enclosed by towering walls topped with barbed wire, watchtowers, and security cameras. Everything about the Uyghurs’ lives in the facilities is heavily regulated, with days vacillating between torture and ‘re-education.’”
Other entities in the region have also come under pressure from China.
China has also been taking an aggressive approach to Taiwan, which it views as illegitimate, and becomes upset when other nations place de facto embassies there. During the Toyko Olympics, China even publicly claimed Taiwan’s medals as its own.
Closer inland, the CCP has cracked down on Hong Kong, attempting to move more sovereignty over the island to Beijing. In response to the increasingly restrictive measures, the U.S. has offered to give “safe haven” to dissidents seeking to leave Hong Kong.