Lee’s Oscar draws praise from China
China heaped praise Tuesday on Taiwanese director Ang Lee’s Oscar win for his gay-cowboy love story “Brokeback Mountain” -- a film that censors rejected for Chinese cinemas -- while Beijing’s critics cited the action as evidence of the communist system’s flaws.
“Ang Lee is the pride of Chinese people all over the world, and he is the glory of Chinese cinematic talent,” the official China Daily newspaper said on its front page.
The praise was in striking contrast to Beijing’s frequent bellicose comments about self-ruled Taiwan, which the communist mainland claims as its territory and has threatened to invade.
Chinese censors rejected “Brokeback Mountain” for cinematic release because of its “sensitive topic.” But China’s citizens can see it on pirated DVDs that are readily available throughout the country.
In Hong Kong, an autonomous Chinese territory with Western-style civil liberties, the Apple Daily newspaper contrasted Lee’s success with China’s controls on popular culture.
“China cannot produce a director like Ang Lee” because of its restrictive environment, the paper said. It praised the United States, where Lee made his film, for giving talented people creative freedom.
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