WITH WOLF WARRIOR 2 AT THE OSCARS， REMEMBERING WHEN RAMBO WAS ALL THE RAGE IN CHINA

On March 4—sex scandals notwithstanding—Hollywoods elite will assemble at Hollywoods Dolby Theater for the 90th Academy Awards， where China has pinned its own Oscar hopes on an unlikely contender.

Despite making 851.6 million USD with its flag-waving depiction of Chinese foreign policy， Wolf Warrior 2 is not an obvious official pick for Best Foreign Film category （past nominees included Zhang Yimous wartime epic Flowers of Nanjing and Feng Xiaogangs Back to 1942， a harrowing depiction of famine in Henan）.

“Being a sequel and an action film with an astonishingly high body count may weigh against the film，” Variety noted. Wolf Warrior 2 has been criticized for both its violence and tactless depiction of the unnamed African country in which the film takes place. This has prompted many to compare the films patriotic protagonist， Wu Jing， with the equally pugilistic John Rambo， hero of First Blood and numerous sequels including 2008s Rambo.

“The Rambo movies personified Americas ability to accept its Vietnam veteran community and misadventure in Vietnam， and even for the direct smack-down confrontation that Americans longed for against their Cold War adversary， the Soviet Union，” observed The Diplomat. “Chinese are leaning not only into a Wolf Warrior that is responsive， globally-focused， and bent on protecting Chinese nationals and interests， but also a Peoples Liberation Army that is as well.” Chinese blogger Ma Tianjie noted “the whole movie can be seen as a convenient set-up to show off the might of a rising superpower.”

Whats somewhat forgotten is the small role the 1982 original First Blood played in the history of Chinese cinema. In 1985， First Blood became—barring a couple of embassy film festivals—the first modern American movie to be shown in China. It was a coup for Hollywood executives： A tickets may have only cost a few cents （6 mao）， but the Chinese box-office could count annual receipts of over 10 billion at the time， and the mainland market was viewed as a long game.

The Stallone flick ran for weeks in theatres around the country—the original Rambos harsh criticism of capitalisms treatment of its proletarian veterans seemingly struck a socialist chord with censors at the time， despite its frequent and graphic violence. But others suggested the reason that the film was allowed was a simple matter of economics. At the time， the China Film Group rarely paid more than 10，000 USD for overseas distribution rights； some speculated that the studio offered a bargain price. If so， it paid off： Over a nine-day run in 21 cinemas in Beijing， the films tickets were scalped at several times their original price， and over a million curious cinemagoers queued to see its unique depiction of an unruly individuals war on society.

Audiences were reportedly thrilled at the plot and special effects （“there were loud gasps” when Stallone debuted his bare and considerably bulky chest， according to one foreign report）， but others were left shaken by the experience. “It is thrilling， it is awesome， but it is not beautiful，” wrote one critic on Dianyin.com. “The worship of the so-called noble savage is nothing more than the glorification of bandits， murderers， and arsonists.” The film defied “our national aesthetics， our social system， and our political system.”

Hardliners in government seemed to agree， and First Blood was yanked after a couple of months. As the surprise success of Wolf Warrior 2 showed， its often hard to predict the taste of both Chinese audiences and censors. A year after First Blood， the 1978 Superman debuted in Beijing. It lasted only a day： A review in the Beijing Evening News denounced the film， and a scene in which Superman circles the Statue of Liberty， as symptomatic of “a narcotic the capitalist class gives itself to cast off its serious crises.” In November this year， though， the latest in the DC superhero franchise， Justice League， safely debuted in China with a 52 million USD opening weekend.

– HAN RUBO （韓儒博）

HAMMER TIME

CHINAS ONLINE ‘JUDICIAL AUCTIONS FACE

growing pains

The November auction of two Boeing 747 jets， seized by the Shenzhen Intermediate Peoples Court from a bankrupt airline in 2013， brought attention to an aspect of Chinas booming e-commerce sector that few realized existed： judicial auctions.

Taobaos platform， called simply “Judicial Auction” （Sifa Paimai）， began in 2012， initially in collaboration with a district court in Ningbo， Zhejiang province. The first item under the hammer was a BMW sedan seized in a lawsuit. Since then， more than 2，000 peoples courts in 30 provinces have jumped on the bandwagon， and sales have ranged from bad loans to company shares to assets seized from officials charged with corruption， including property developments and art collections.

In 2016， the Supreme Peoples Court issued regulations on their procedure， while applauding Taobaos system for lowering costs by eliminating third-party commissions and increasing transparency of sales—in the past， offline auctions risked under-the-table deals between auction agents and court staff to fix bids.

Online auctions also remove barriers for bidders， such as geography and inexperience—the Boeing jets had languished since 2015 in local auctions， which tended only to be announced in newspapers and court websites. They were snapped up by courier firm SF Express within two days of listing online. Taobaos “disruption” has naturally made enemies. In a recent editorial， Henan newspaper Dahebao argued in favor of “professionalism”： Commissioned agents are likely to be more thorough than local courts in the matters of appraising and auditing the lots. The editorial came in response to news that a woman in Zhengzhou won an apartment online for 2.3 million RMB， and found she owed 460，000 RMB of taxes on the property， due to a technicality that the court had been unaware of.

And corruption has been not so much eliminated， as adapted： Several recent cases of “malicious bidding” on Sifa Paimai had owners arranging with online bidders to bid up the price of the item， then refusing to pay， allowing the owner to potentially keep the item.

In September， authorities made their first arrest of a malicious online bidder， and are now calling for stricter rules and penalties for participants. Meanwhile， the e-auction mania continues to grow. Cities like Beijing and Nanjing have opened up their own platforms for local courts， and recent assets sold include an “auspicious” cell phone number from a debtor in Shandong province （193，800 RMB， via Taobao） and 11 horses from a dispute between co-owners of an closed-down equestrian club in Beijing （224，000 RMB on JD.com）.

– HATTY LIU

VIRTUAL “POPAGANDA”

COMPUTER-GENERATED SINGERS， FIRST POPULAR IN JAPAN， ARE BEING APPROPRIATED

by the government

Luo Tianyi is 15 years old， about 5-feet-10， with gray hair and green eyes. In her blue skirt， a figure-eight chignon on her head， she is typically “Chinese.”

But Luo is not real. Shes the joint creation of the Japanese conglomerate Yamaha Corporation and a Chinese company， Thstars， using Vocaloid software， Yamahas singing voice synthesizer.

To her fans， though， little Luo is real； she even has a personality based on music generated by users. Creators just need to input melodies and lyrics into her sound-editing program， which can be synthesized from a voice bank provided by professional voice actress Shan Xin， according to the Global Times.

Since her public debut in July 2012， Luo has “produced” more than 6，000 original songs， accumulating over 200 million views， according to China News Weekly. The concept of a “virtual idol” originated in Japan， where holographic or VR celebrities command vast commercial opportunities. Similar technology has been used by some Western artists， too， with a “hologram Tupac” debuting at a Coachella concert with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg in 2012.

Hatsune Miku， a famous Japanese virtual idol， makes her creators serious money by holding concerts all over the world using this tech： A Miku concert held in Shanghai in 2015 charged an average 500 RMB per ticket.

In China， though， virtual idols have taken on another role. According to the Global Times， Luo has become a spokesperson for several popular brands such as KFC and Changan Automobile， and has been endorsed by the Communist Youth League， who believe she can be used to “promote positive values to the youth.”

Analysts think Luo has such a large market because the number of young anime， comics， and games （ACG） consumers in China is increasing. According to a report by Chinese firm iResearch， there were 260 million ACG consumers in 2015.

“Virtual icons like Luo Tianyi could cause zero harm to youngsters as they wont yield to any temptation like drugs or get involved in any sex scandals” the Global Times noted. “In recent years， a number of popular human celebrities were found to be drug users or sex addicts. Its also not uncommon to find stars falling from the publics worshiping altar after making an ethical mistake.”

What the report doesnt mention， though， is that Luo herself briefly ran afoul of Chinas strict censorship environment in 2015， when one of her songs was placed on the Ministry of Cultures list of 120 songs banned from online distribution. Perhaps this is why a defiantly “parental advisory” Tupac hasnt returned to the virtual stage since. – PHOEBE ZHANG

TOILET TRANSFORMATION

CAN CHINAS RESTROOM REVOLUTION ALSO BE LGBT-FRIENDLY？

When Chang， a middle-aged woman， was making her way to the restroom at The Nest， an upscale restaurant on Shanghais Bund， she was stopped by the manager—shed been mistaken， due to her looks， for a man.

An argument ensued. “You people， neither male nor female，” the manager shouted. “Ive seen plenty like you.” Later， several male attendants allegedly wrestled her to the ground， punching her body， head， and face. Police are now investigating the December incident， amid calls for a boycott of the business by LGBT groups and their supporters.

“A revolution is not a dinner party，” Mao Zedong once said. It is “an insurrection， an act of violence.” Chinas “toilet revolution，” a state-backed directive spearheaded by President Xi Jinping to improve Chinas public bathroom quality， officially refers to improvements like increasing the use of Western-style flush toilets and improving hygiene standards. However， Xi has also publicly supported a related effort to install so-called “third toilets.”

On third toilets that already exist in public areas and tourist sites around the country， the English translation—“family toilet，” “mother-baby toilet”—and illustration on the signs suggest they are simply unisex facilities， provided for those who may need to assist the opposite gender： parents with young children， for example. Though the toilet revolution， outlined by Xi in last November， was the first official effort to promote unisex restrooms， there have been numerous independent initiatives. In China， there are already genderless restrooms， neutral restrooms， and family restrooms， all essentially offering the same service.

One type， Beijings all-gender toilets， is being promoted by Beijings Gender Health Education Institute （BGHEI）， specifically with the purpose of encouraging gender equality and diversity.

Martin Yang， BGHEIs sustainable development manager， says that while their and Xis campaign differ in some ways， both contribute to providing safe places for all people to use a restroom. Yang points out that the concept of a unisex toilet isnt necessarily revolutionary： Many rudimentary latrines and bathrooms are essentially communal. “It doesnt make sense that they have this traditional man-woman sign on their doors，” says Yang. “But we want to say publicly…its super gender-friendly.”

“Friendship” and “equality” are two of the “Core Values of Chinese Socialism，” as outlined by the 18th Congress of the Communist Party in 2012. As long as the “third toilet” fits concept within these values， China may sidestep some of the politicized controversies that have hijacked the issue of non-traditional gender identities in the US， while promoting some values of its own： civility and harmony. – ALEXANDER CECIL MCNAB