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Asia Minute: China Cracking Down on Strippers at Funerals—Again

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Wikimedia Commons

China’s communist party is the center of the country’s political power. The party’s leaders steer foreign and domestic government policies and laws. Other party officials wind up dealing with less sweeping issues—but those sometimes include unusual topics. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in today’s Asia Minute.

China’s communist party is dealing with an issue that you may not have realized even existed. It’s the problem of strippers at funerals.

Entertainment has been a part of Chinese funerals for a number of years – especially in the countryside. According to local news coverage, the reason is to increase the turnout of mourners.

China’s Global Times says that adds to the prestige of the deceased—the bigger the crowd, the higher the degree of respect. But in some cases that entertainment has moved from singers, actors and storytellers to performances that are not exactly family friendly – including strippers.

But the Ministry of Culture has said it will be cracking down on the use of what it called “obscene, pornographic and vulgar performances” at funerals across four provinces. And enforcement is likely to come down to some part of the local communist party.

Credit floristluton / Pixabay
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Pixabay

This is not the first time such a campaign has taken place.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency reported a similar proclamation from the Ministry of Culture several years ago. But this time there’s an added level of government activity: a telephone hotline.

The Global Times says witnesses are being asked to call in any stripper activity at funerals with cash rewards for callers.

Bill Dorman has been the news director at Hawaiʻi Public Radio since 2011.
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