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Beijing fined a Chinese comedy studio about $2 million on Wednesday for a joke that compared China’s military to stray dogs, a reminder of the increasingly narrow expression of expression under the country’s leader, Xi Jinping.
The Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau accused popular comedian Li Haoshi, who works at the studio, of “grossly insulting” the People’s Liberation Army, China’s military, during two live performances in Beijing on Saturday. Authorities said the prank had “bad social impact.”
“We will not allow any company or individual to defame the glorious image of the People’s Liberation Army,” the statement read.
The authority also said it would suspend all Beijing shows held by its studio, Shanghai-based Xiaoguo Culture Media. The bureau also confiscated about $180,000 of what officials described as illegal proceeds uncovered during the investigation, which began Monday. Officials in Shanghai followed suit, suspending all Xiaoguo shows there and ordering the company to “deeply draw” lessons from the incident, according to government social media accounts.
The investigation began after a recording of Mr Li’s prank was posted on social media. In it, Mr. Li describes a scene where two adopted stray dogs chase a squirrel. The ferocity of the dog’s pursuit, he said, reminded him of a well-known Chinese military slogan about virtue and grit: “Maintain meritorious conduct, fight to win.”
Mr Xi had used the slogan at a political meeting with a military delegation in 2013, shortly after coming to power, and the phrase has since become popular.
The joke went viral on Chinese social media, after critics, particularly nationalist commentators, said the comedian was making light of a serious speech delivered by Mr Xi. The other said that Mr. Li’s words were taken out of context.
On Wednesday evening, the China Performing Arts Association, a group of institutions involved in the arts, issued a boycott against Mr. Li, which could prevent the comic from performing in public. Beijing police also said they had launched an investigation into a man surnamed Li who “seriously insulted the People’s Liberation Army in the middle of a performance,” according to its official Weibo account.
The harsh punishment dealt a heavy blow to China’s fledgling standup comedy scene, highlighting comedians’ high-wire act in China, where speech boundaries continue to tighten. Officials in China often expect films and works of art to have a positive moral impact on society, a view that dates back to the Mao Zedong era and the role of art as a political instrument. Beijing authorities, in announcing the punishment against Xiaoguo, called on artists and writers to have “correct creative thinking” and “provide healthy spiritual nourishment to the public.”
In recent years, Mr. Xi has increased control over speeches that challenge the party’s narrative about Chinese politics and history.
Last year, Luo Changping, a businessman and former investigative journalist in China, was sentenced to seven months in prison after he questioned China’s role in the Korean War. Mr. Luo was charged under a new criminal code that makes defamation of political martyrs a crime.
Recently, in addition to traditional Chinese forms of comedy, various Western standups have become more popular in metropolitan cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. The art form gained popularity thanks, in part, to the success of Rock and Roast, a standup competition that attracted millions of fans during the pandemic, when lockdowns locked many Chinese people at home. The show, run by Xiaoguo, turned Mr. Li, whose stage name is “House,” into a star.
“There’s a tension that exists between standup comedy as a genre and a cultural domain that is heavily censored in China,” said Sheng Zou, an assistant professor at Hong Kong Baptist University who specializes in popular culture in China.
Comedy thrives in places where it can satirize or comment on political or ideological tropes. But in China, Mr. Zou said, “you have a very limited choice of what kind of material you can draw on.”
Mr. Li was suspended indefinitely by Xiaoguo immediately after the performance, according to a statement by the comedy company on Friday. In an earlier Weibo post, the comedian said he was “deeply embarrassed and regretful,” calling the comparison “inappropriate.”
Mr. Li and Mr. Xiaoguo could not immediately be reached for comment.
On Chinese social media, reactions to the fines were mixed, with some commentators saying they were too severe. One common comment suggests that companies that provide false PCR test results are fined no more than $11,000.
But the strong chorus of condemnation of Mr. Li made it clear that his words had struck a chord with more than just Chinese officials.
“What is worth noting in this incident is that it not only angered the censors but also disturbed many patriotic people,” said Mr. Zou. “Cases like these fines are where the general public and state-sponsored nationalism are.”
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