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China Bans Pop Song With 'Opium' Lyrics
2003-10-29
BEIJING - China has banned a song by Hong Kong pop diva Faye Wong after government censors ruled that its lyrics about opium would harm young people.The censors objected to the song ``In the Name of Love,'' which includes the line, ``opium is warm and sweet,'' the state-run Xinhua News Agency and newspapers said. The song is on the album ``To Love.'' ``Relevant departments banned this because they thought the lyrics were too decadent and will influence the health of young people,'' Xinhua said on its Web site. The word ``opium'' evokes Western domination for some Chinese. An employee of Shanghai-based distributor Xinsuo Music Co., said the album to be released inside China will contain the other 12 songs on the original version. The employee refused to give her name. The album will be released throughout Asia in November, the employee said. Xinhua said censors made the decision after Wong's record company submitted the album for review last week. Phone calls to the legal department of the Ministry of Culture after working hours on Thursday went unanswered. Communist leaders are acutely sensitive to pop culture references to opium - a reminder of the country's colonial era. China's domination by foreign powers dates to the Opium Wars of the 1840s, when Britain attacked China over Beijing's ban on imports of the drug by British merchants. China lost the war and was forced to hand over Hong Kong, beginning a century in which foreign governments seized control of large swaths of the country. Wong was born on China's mainland but lives in Hong Kong. She often ranks as China's top-selling female vocalist. Jean Yau, a spokeswoman for Wong's record company, Sony Music Entertainment (Hong Kong) Ltd., said she had no information about the ban. AP
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