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Beijing (pte011/09.12.2004/10:45) - China has banned a British football game because it refers to Taiwan, Hong Kong and other regions claimed by China as separate countries. According to a notice on the Ministry of Culture's website http://www.ccnt.gov.cn , "Football Manager 2005" contained "content harmful to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity that seriously violates Chinese law and has been strongly protested by our nation's gamers."
As the Scotsman http://news.scotsman.com reports, the game, launched on the 5th of November, is not being sold in China and has no Chinese language version. However, according to the notice, Chinese authorities have ordered government departments to search for the game online and in computer software markets, Internet cafes and news stalls that sell pirated software and to seize any copies found. Game developers Sports Interactive or publisher Sega Europe, which claims the game as its biggest-ever seller, were not immediately available for comment.
China lays claim to Taiwan, and recovered Hong Kong from Great Britain in 1997. According to the Ministry of Culture, the game also contained references to Tibet, occupied by Chinese troops in 1951, and Macau, a former Portuguese colony handed over to China in 1999. Numerous foreign companies have been in trouble with Chinese authorities in recent times for allegedly violating Chinese sensitivities. Only this week, China banned a Nike television commercial showing the NBA rookie of the year, LeBron James, fighting and defeating a kung fu master, two women in traditional Chinese attire and a pair of dragons in a mock video game setting. According to the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television, the advertisement violated national dignity and was disrespectful and blasphemous towards Chinese culture.
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