As the Chinese government announces that it has drafted a new regulation to improve the nation's reading habits, netizens and the media are trying to figure out what makes Chinese people reluctant to read. Lilian Lin at The Wall Street Journal:
Others point to censorship. The publishing regulator maintains strict control over the issuance of book numbers, which are required for a book to be published or sold legally, denying them to books it deems inappropriate. Topics that allude to violence, religion, sex and politics are strictly controlled. Some publishers say this year, novels about Chinese officialdom – an immensely popular genre widely embraced by Chinese readers in recent years – have been unable to get book numbers.“It’s not that Chinese don’t like to read,” said Wang Xiaodong, president of China Pioneer Culture & Media Co., whose company has many published books that later were adapted into films and dramas, including “The Flowers of War.” “It’s that Chinese don’t like to read what the government publishes.”The wide availability of pirated books online is another problem, according Mr. Wang. “It will be more meaningful for the government to try harder to curb online piracy and protect writer’s rights,” he said. [Source]
