Anyone keeping a watch on Hong Kong will have seen the steam rising from endless stories of a sex scandal involving some of Hong Kong’s Beautiful Young Things. A blog post on the subject could not be avoided (and if it generates a record number of hits, so be it – it worked for ImageThief…and he tells the whole story here: “Let me tell ya about Edison Chen’s dirty photos”).

But the story is perhaps more widely relevant, as AP reports that there is a lot of sex talk (and more) over in the mainland as well:

“China is in the midst of a sexual revolution, a byproduct of rising prosperity and looser government restrictions on private life.

…But the revolution is taking place largely behind closed doors, and the word “sex” — or “xing” (pronounced shing) is spoken only among close friends…”

And wisely so it would seem, as Xinhua report on the arrests of people accused of spreading the above-mentioned celebrity photos:

“Chinese police have arrested two more men in a nationwide crackdown on the distribution of sexually explicit photos featuring Hong Kong entertainer Edison Chen, police in east China’s Shandong Province said on Sunday.

…Hong Kong police have been hunting for the first releaser of the photos and had made several arrests.
At least 13 people have been arrested on the Chinese mainland in connection with the photos. Chinese law prohibits the production, duplication, selling or circulation of pornographic products even without the purpose of making profit. Offenders can face detention of up to 15 days.”

If nothing else, the whole affair shows that people (whether celebrity posers or tabloid readers) in China are much like their counterparts in other places – and that digital information (and images) know no borders.

See news sources:

China Discovers the Permissive Society
The Associated Press – China is in the midst of a sexual revolution, a byproduct of rising prosperity and looser government restrictions on private life. ...

Two arrested for spreading celebrity sex photos in east China
Xinhua – China
On Saturday, police in the central China province of Hunan sentenced two men to five days detention for disseminating the explicit photos on the Internet. ...

permalink | email | print