Thirteen Chinese on-line portals recently issued a joint
statement asking domestic websites to boycott the spread of
pornographic photos involving Hong Kong entertainers Edison Chen
and some female starlets that has been called by some the "first
ratty plague" in the Year of the Rat.
Last month, photos of the Canadian-born Chen caught in sexual
acts with various Hong Kong starlets surfaced on the Internet and
have spread like wildfire ever since.
"The 'Porno Photo Gate' has been an unprecedented test for
Internet ethics, artists' behavior and the bottom line of the law,
as well as a challenge to the development and the administration of
the Internet culture," said the statement.
It urged netizens and website workers to be self-disciplined and
prevent the occurrence and spreading of this kind of event, by
pledging not to download, spread and speculate on the photos.
So far, more than 40 domestic websites have supported the
statement to show their social responsibilities. Many Chinese
netizens have pledged not download or spread the Chen photos.
In related developments, the Beijing Internet News Information
Review Council issued a statement on Tuesday demanding Baidu.Com,
the Nasdaq-listed on-line search engine, to apologize for spreading
the pictures. The website has been criticized for failing to
control the spread of the photos in its picture-sharing
function.
This year is the Year of the Rat for the traditional Chinese
Lunar Calendar, which began on Feb. 7. In the Chinese Lunar
Calendar, the rat takes the lead in a circle of 12 years named
after real or legendary animals, followed by the cow, tiger,
rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, chicken, dog and
pig.
Traditionally, Chinese dislike rat as it is viewed as a dirty
and ugly creature that spreads disease and steals food. In the
1950s and 1960s, the rat took the lead among the "Five Pests" that
were ordered by the central authorities to be wiped out, together
with the swallow, which was later proved to be mostly innocent, the
bedbug, mosquito and fly.
In recent years, however, the rat's image has improved in China,
thanks to the popular cartoon character Mickey Mouse.
Chen's photos, however, have brought back some bad memories of
the rat. The "Porn Photo Gate" scandal, in fact, has marred the
whole artists' circle in Hong Kong.
(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2008)
