Asia Pacific

Culture and Control

Culture and Control

Articles in this series are exploring the struggle to shape the culture of authoritarian China.

December 31, 2011

Gilles Sabrie for The New York Times

China TV Grows Racy, and Gets a Chaperon

By EDWARD WONG

A dating show helped set off the toughest crackdown on television in years, exposing the tension at the heart of the Communist Party’s control of entertainment.

November 6, 2011

Shiho Fukada for The New York Times

Pushing China’s Limits on Web, if Not on Paper

By EDWARD WONG

Murong Xuecun, a popular Chinese novelist, often runs afoul of censors, which has pushed him to become a vocal critic of censorship in China and driven him to publish on the Internet.

August 13, 2011

Shiho Fukada for The New York Times

Chinese Director’s Path From Rebel to Insider

By EDWARD WONG

Zhao Liang’s evolution from a filmmaker the government hounded to one it celebrates offers a window into how directors in China try to carve out space for self-expression.

April 3, 2011

Sim Chi Yin for The New York Times

At China’s New Museum, History Toes Party Line

By IAN JOHNSON

The National Museum of China showcases the Communist Party’s efforts to control the narrative of history.

video A Date With the Censors

ID Video

Reality TV shows have become common on Chinese television, but the sometimes racy and materialistic content has attracted the attention of China’s censors. (Produced by Jonah M. Kessel and Edward Wong)

Photo Slide Show: In China, Reality Television Proves Too Real

After censors threatened to cancel a popular television show, producers raced to tone it down. (Photographs by Gilles Sabrie)

video Word Crimes

ID Video

Murong Xuecun is a novelist who writes about corruption in China. In the last year, he has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of censorship. (Produced by Jonah M. Kessel and Edward Wong)

video Filming China's Dark Side

ID Video

Zhao Liang's films, which explore the relationship between the Chinese government and its citizens, have received critical acclaim abroad but are not screened in China. (Produced by Jonah M. Kessel and Edward Wong)

Photo Slide Show: New State Museum Sanitizes China’s Past

Even with a $380 million overhaul, the reopened National Museum of China exemplifies the Communist Party’s determination to suppress alternative points of view and control the narrative of history. (Photographs by Sim Chi Yin)