China releases blacklist of 120 obscene or immoral songs

China’s ministry of culture has released a blacklist of 120 songs that it believes “trumpeted obscenity, violence, crime or harmed social morality”, and ordered website administrators to take them off their sites.

With titles like Beijing Hooligans, Don't Want to Go to School and Suicide Diary, the banned songs had "severely problematic content" and violated cultural management regulations, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Included in the list of blacklisted songs was Taiwanese singer Chang Csun-yuk's song Fart, which includes the line: "There are some people in the world who like farting while doing nothing," and I Love Taiwanese Girls, in which he sings that he will take them to a gynecologist if they get pregnant and urges them to take off their clothes, the South China Morning Post reported.

The ministry said: “No unit or individual is allowed to provide [these songs]” and said any work unit or individual that did not take down the songs would face unspecified “severe punishment”.

While many online music fans complained about the latest round of restrictions, some internet users thanked the ministry for giving them a new playlist with which to work.

Liu Qiang, a ministry official, said the blacklist would serve as a reference for online administrators to ensure their content is legal. China’s government is currently waging a moral crusade, initiated by president Xi Jinping, which has seen some high-profile drugs and prostitution arrests in the entertainment industry.