China bans pigs...

[CBR]

...on tv that is.

As the Year of the Pig is soon upon us it appears China doesnt want to offend a certain minority...

http://rawstory.com/news/2006/China_..._01262007.html

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

China bans pigs from Year of the Pig TV advertisements


dpa German Press Agency
Published: Friday January 26, 2007

Beijing- China's ruling Communist Party has banned images and mention of pigs in television advertisements aired over the lunar new year to avoid offending the country's Muslims, an advertising agency said on Friday. "We were told by the CCTV (China Central Television) censorship team that the CCTV advertising department announced a new regulation on pigs in its internal document," an executive at the Shanghai-based Mindshare agency told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone.

The ban also applies to cartoons and traditional paper-cut images of pigs, and to slogans such as "golden pig brings you fortune" and "wish you a happy pig year," the executive said.

He said the decision was taken "in order to avoid nationality conflicts" and issued by Li Changchun, a top party propaganda official and a member of the party's elite Politburo.

"The regulation only applies to advertisements," a staff member in the CCTV advertising department said, refusing to answer further questions.

CCTV and other state broadcasters normally run dozens of popular variety shows and other special programmes before and during the one-week national holiday to mark the lunar new year, or Spring Festival.

The Year of the Pig begins on February 18.

China officially has 21 million Muslims among it 1.3 billion people, about half of them from the Hui group which predominates in poor northwestern areas but is spread across the country.

Some 7.5 million Uighurs, most of whom are Muslims, form the largest minority in China's Central Asian region of Xinjiang.

The Communist Party retains control over religious activity and all mosques must register with the Islamic Association.

It protected "normal religious activities" in its 1982 constitution, after all religion was forcibly suppressed during the communist fundamentalism of the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution.

The government now gives concessions to Muslims and ethnic minorities under its "one-child" family planning policy and has recruited more officials from minorities.

Local conflicts sometimes erupt between Hui Muslims and the Han Chinese majority and are more common between Uighurs and Han in Xinjiang.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency

[Fisherking]

Doesn't it just make you feel warm and fuzzy know that they care for their minorities.

May be they think they can save money this way…by not sending in the tanks after the riot…

[KukriKhan]

With roughly 18 months before foreigners begin arriving for their Olympics, maybe the 'soft-sell' is gaining hold there (for awhile anyway).

[spmetla]

I'm pretty sure that muslims don't have anything against pigs, just eating them. I don't think there would have been a problem unless some sort of pig food was offered at every corner.

[yesdachi]

Newsflash
Arnold Ziffel outraged at the lack of residuals he is receiving from Chinese TV stations due to the banning of Green Acres.

[ajaxfetish]

I guess the PC phenomenon isn't just a product of western culture afterall . . .

Ajax

[Slyspy]

I suspect that in China they care more for the political side rather than the correctness aspect!

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

I guess the PC phenomenon isn't just a product of western culture afterall . . .

Ajax

Perverse in a way, isn't it?

I have a Muslim friend, he's not keen on pigs full stop and he's Turkish-Muslim and very moderate.

[Mooks]

I eat pigs every day....yum pork.

[Rameusb5]

Why is it that if you don't like something everyone else has to stop doing it?

If you choose to be Muslim, how on earth can you be offended when other people aren't Muslim and eat pork or watch them on TV?!?

"Hey! You're not living the way I choose to live my life! OMG Die!"

If I applied the same logic to my life, no one would deserve to live except pot-heads and film critics.

[Vladimir]

It has to do with the more zealous among them that practice the tenant of the superiority of Islam. Kinda like the joke about southern baptists thinking they're the only ones in heaven (it's very funny ).

[AntiochusIII]

You guys actually think China *cares* about its Muslim minority?

Hell no! They're just doing it to please the West: "We're tolerant! Look at us! Come and do business!" kind of deal.

By the way, for such assertions that the Evilz Muslims are responsible for the latest of the People's Government's many rather unreasonable actions I'd say you need to reconsider what kind of state the Middle Kingdom is, how low the percentage of the People (tm) actually are Muslim, and how little they think of, say, some Muslim Mongolian-related tribes in their "autonomous regions."

If anything, pork is a crucial part of the Chinese diet. Yum, pork. Though I admit I prefer the "Peking Duck" myself...

[Vladimir]

I've noticed a lot of Chinese dishes that include pork but I've dismissed it as catering to the types of neighborhoods the resteraunts can be found in.