Only patriotic films in Hong Kong cinemas. The parliament of the former British colony has decided to change the Film Censorship Ordinance, the operating regulations of the censorship commission, which has the task of examining every film, local or foreign, before making it available for screening in cinemas and on online streaming channels. In Hong Kong, all those films that convey phrases, concepts, dialogues or principles that are not aligned – or, worse, critical – towards the thinking of the CCP, the (single) Chinese Communist Party, which has imposed its close on the territory ceded by the United Kingdom in 1997, whose motto was historically “One country, two systems”.
A series of amendments to the cinema censorship law have now been approved: the ax will fall on the “screening or release of films contrary to the interest of national security”, affecting not only new but also old Hong Kong films. . In fact, the rule also applies to “certified” films, which have already obtained an authorization for release: as reported in section 14A of the document, this can now “be revoked”. According to the new law, the competent authorities can also carry out inspections “in any place” without any official mandate, in the event that obtaining “results in the loss or destruction of evidence of a violation”. The envisaged penalties are now much harsher: those who violate the law risk up to 1 million local dollars (about 110 thousand euros) in fines and three years in prison.