Chinese honour guards prepare for the arrival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 2, 2019.WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images
Every comedian has had a joke bomb or fail to connect with an audience. But perhaps no one has done so quite as spectacularly as Li Haoshi.
During a pair of shows last week, the Chinese comedian quipped about two stray dogs he had adopted after moving to Shanghai. The energy they displayed in chasing after squirrels was inspiring, he said, adding that they were “able to win battles, with first-rate style.”
Those eight words have essentially ended Mr. Li’s career, resulted in a 13.4-million yuan ($2.6-million) fine for his employer and landed at least one person in prison. And the fallout continues: On Thursday, multiple venues in Beijing said they had been told to cancel all performances by “foreign-related” acts, including musicians, with no date for when they might resume.
The phrase Mr. Li was riffing on is associated with the People’s Liberation Army and first used by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, when he was describing what kind of military the country needed. By adopting it for a joke, Mr. Li had “seriously insulted” the PLA and caused “bad social impact,” police in Beijing said in a statement announcing an investigation into the comedian.
China’s official Xinhua News Agency said “the people’s army protects the country and must have the reverence of all,” adding that “not a word” of Mr. Xi’s slogan should be derided.
After the controversy blew up this week, Mr. Li’s employer, Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media, rushed to apologize, saying it had suspended the comedian and “severely criticized” him. But this did not stop it from being slapped with the 13.4-million yuan fine, as well as having 1.3-million yuan in “illegal gains” from Mr. Li’s shows confiscated.
After authorities in Shanghai and Beijing ordered the company to suspend performances in those cities, it said it would cancel all shows nationwide and issue refunds to ticket holders, according to Caixin, a Chinese business publication.
The ramifications for the entertainment sector appear to be bigger than just one company, with multiple venues cancelling gigs in Beijing. A statement seen by The Globe and Mail said this was owing to “force majeure,” and several performers said they had been told all acts featuring foreigners or that are “foreign-related” had been suspended indefinitely, an apparent overcorrection given that Mr. Li is himself Chinese.
The comedian’s own travails are likely not over either. The China Performing Arts Association has called on all members to refuse to work with Mr. Li, likely ending his career. On social media, he promised to “deeply reflect and re-educate” himself, something he may well end up doing in prison. In 2021, China made it a crime to insult or slander military personnel, and last year former investigative journalist Luo Changping was sentenced to seven months in jail for criticizing The Battle at Lake Changjin, a jingoistic epic about the PLA’s role in the Korean War.
According to Chinese state media, a 34-year-old woman surnamed Shi was arrested this week in Dalian, in northeastern China, after she criticized the backlash against Mr. Li and said all soldiers “are just dog brothers.”
Comedy has always been a sensitive matter in China, where all aspects of culture are subject to tight oversight and censorship. When standup comedian Wang Yuechi, also known as Chi Zi, joked about politically sensitive topics during a tour in Canada earlier this year, his social-media profiles were wiped off the Chinese internet. Mr. Wang does not appear to have returned to China and may face arrest if he does.
“As the Li Haoshi incident demonstrates, China’s highly sensitive political environment has very real implications for journalists, writers, performers, and ordinary citizens,” David Bandurski, an expert on Chinese media and propaganda, wrote this week. “Potential crimes are a matter of perception, weighed by the risk psychology of China’s leadership and its media attack dogs – whizzing like artillery shells after the squirrels of disgrace.”
China prepared to ‘smash any form of Taiwan independence,’ military says