For those not familiar with China’s governmental procedure, every five years the highest body within the Communist Party gets together in Beijing to discuss Communist Party policy and changes to the Party’s leadership. This is called the National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the 17th meeting of this body occurs next month. This body is separate from and often confused with the National People’s Congress, which meets every March and is not as highly regarded. What does this have to do with sex sounds, you wonder. Well, in the month leading up to the meetings of either body, China’s censors get all frenzied and start blocking various Web sites and cracking down on what is perceived to be immoral, subversive or suggestive media. Peter Ford of the Christian Science Monitor wrote a story this week claiming that leading up to October’s five-yearly Congress meeting, Beijing has executed the biggest Internet crackdown in Chinese history. CSM cited a Shanghai Daily story claiming that access to 18,401 “illegal” sites have been blocked since April, less than half of which were pornographic. While pornograpy is clearly not condoned by the Chinese government, it is not the sex sites only that have been shut down. Reportedly, the censorship bureau has been targeting sites with interactive features such as forums, chat rooms or commenting systems and the CSM claimed that over half of China’s sites with interactive capabilities have been disabled. Ford writes, “To avoid being blocked, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in China and individual websites have been disabling chatrooms, forums, and other interactive features that might provide a platform for viewpoints unacceptable to the authorities.” As far as I can tell this crackdown has targeted Chinese-language sites only as some of the more popular interactive English sites have remained unchanged. But the war on lewd content is not confined to the Web. Ahead of next month’s Congress meeting, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has banned a female crime television documentary, reality shows featuring plastic surgery or contests and last, “sex sounds.” A SARFT statement explaining the move read, “sexually suggestive advertisements and scenes showing how women are influenced into a life of crime are detrimental to society.” From Beijing’s perspective, in the same way that anonymous forums encourage political dissidence, television programs that recreate crimes committed by women encourage more women to commit crime. Nothing was said about shows depicting men committing crimes. But let’s get back to the “sex sounds.” According to the SARFT notice, “Commercials containing sexually provocative sounds or tantalizing language as well as vulgar advertisements for breast enhancement and female underwear are banned, effective immediately.” Granted, I don’t watch a lot of Chinese television. Nor am I very familiar with Chinese “sex sounds.” I said “very” familiar. But I’m about 100% certain, that on the TV channels I get, there are no Chinese sex sounds nor Chinese women sitting around in their underwear. And if I’m wrong, kindly send an e-mail telling me the channel on which I can find them. According to Reuters, since August, a total of 1,446 ads worth $246 million have been pulled from television and radio. And often times, like when the National People’s Congress met last in March, restrictions loosen within the month after the meeting. The crackdowns prior to the Congresses seem to be purely symbolic, a flexing of the Party’s muscle to create, however phony, a mighty facade. I suppose this Party officials view these measures as necessary in order to conduct productive legislative discourse. Who knows really. Perhaps Beijing uses the Congress merely as an excuse to exercise the the controls over Chinese society that, if not for the Congress, might be met with hostility. Who knows. What Chinese writers do know is that none of these questions will be answered and that they will have to continue expressing themselves unclear of what’s permissible to say and aware of the what can happen if they say the wrong thing. For me, I’m just sorry I never got to experience the orgasmic moaning and half-naked women that, unbeknownst to me, characterize the Chinese airwaves.

•China Bans “Sexual Sounds” on Airwaves
•CSM: Why China Shut Down 18,401 Websites

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