Hollywood star
Keanu Reeves removed from China’s video platforms
Keanu Reeves has been banned from Chinese video platforms. Photo: Mark Von Holden/Invision/AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
China’s censors apparently didn’t like the fact that actor Keanu Reeves took part in a concert by the New York organization Tibet House. Reeves isn’t the first to fall out of favor in China.
Hollywood star Keanu Reeves’ films have been banned from major video platforms in China after his support for Tibetan activists.
“Matrix” or “Speed” could no longer be found on Saturday on Baidu’s largest service Iqiyi or on Tencent’s QQ video. China’s censorship apparently took offense at his appearance at a concert by the New York organization Tibet House. Behind it is the Dalai Lama, the exiled religious leader of the Tibetans who reports to Beijing separatism.
The search for Reeve’s Chinese name “Jinu Liweisi” on Iqiyi no longer yielded any hits: “Some results are not displayed due to relevant laws, regulations and politics”, followed a note that the search “unfortunately” had not produced any results. The fact that the 57-year-old is falling out of favor with China’s censors doesn’t bode well for the star’s future film projects in Hollywood. Production companies are increasingly tailoring new films specifically for the world’s largest film market in China, where political authorities decide what is allowed in cinemas.
It is unclear who gave the order to ban Reeves from China. “The system is so opaque that it is almost impossible to determine exactly which authority or person is responsible,” said censorship expert Alex Yu from the US organization “China Digital Times” of the “Los Angeles Times”. first reported about it. Reeves read a poem at the concert on March 3, which was only online again because of Corona. Also in attendance were Hollywood composer Philip Glass, singers Cyndie Lauper and Patti Smith, and the “godfather of punk” Iggy Pop.
Hollywood stars like Richard Gere and Lady Gaga had fallen out of favor in communist China because of their sympathy for the Dalai Lama or their commitment to Tibet. Like the Uighurs in neighboring Xinjiang, many Tibetans feel politically, culturally and economically oppressed by the ruling Chinese. After the communists seized power in Beijing in 1949 and the People’s Liberation Army invaded Tibet in 1950, the People’s Republic incorporated the highlands as an autonomous region.