China censors information concerning female celebrity's liaison with CCP official: Reports

China's censors have attempted to keep the Internet away from the prospective marriage between Chinese starlet Tong Liya and one of the China Communist Party's (CCP) most high ranking propagandists, Shen Haixiong, according to Taiwan News. China has always been known for hosting one of the world's most restrictive media environments, depending on censorship to constrain information available in the news, online, as well as on social media.

Tong, who is a Xinjiang native of the Xibe ethnic group, is an entertainer, has divorced film director Chen Sicheng earlier in 2021. The actress was just remarried to influential state-media magnate Shen Haixiong, chairman of the China Media Group and deputy minister of the CCP's Central Propaganda Department, according to reports on Chinese social media platforms. 

All posts on the issue of Tong Liya's Remarriage has totally disappeared

While some reports surrounding Tong were not confirmed, they seem to have struck a chord with the censors. According to WhatsonWeibo, the fast censoring itself has become somewhat of a show, with all posts regarding Tong Liya's Remarriage has totally vanished, Taiwan News reported.

However, the Chinese authorities could not dismiss all the follow-up reports. Tong reached out to police, seeking aid to fight the online rumours. According to WhatsonWeibo, those who were frantic to talk about the topic subsequently turned to foreign languages and even Morse code. “There was a lot of outrage about the extent of the censorship, per one Vice reporter,” Taiwan News stated. The case is currently being probed by Beijing police.

Another incident of Media censor

Meanwhile, another related instance of Chinese media suppression indicates the recent events that happened in the life of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. Shuai had previously accused former Chinese Communist Party Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual molestation in a post on Weibo on November 2. According to her post, it was written that she was pressured into intercourse with him without her consent, which was quickly removed from the microblogging website. The athlete went on to say that she would be unable to produce any proof in this respect.  

Following the incident, the tennis star's social media post went viral, and many people stepped forward to share their own stories of sexual misconduct. Shuai's messages were taken down from the internet, and the Chinese government did not give any reason at that time. 

(Image: AP/ Unsplash/ Representative Image)