China's war on "South Park" (cartoon)

South Park deleted scenes; Ross A. Lincoln, The Wrap, 10/9/19; Sara Gonzales (The News and Why It Matters); Noah Trevor (The Daily Show); Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

“South Park” declares “F— the Chinese government" in latest episode. The episode comes two days after creators joke, “Like the NBA, we welcome Chinese censors into our homes and into our hearts.”

“South Park” celebrated its milestone 300th episode by escalating its criticism of China’s government on Wednesday, continuing a plot line from the previous week’s episode that concluded with one of the main characters shouting, “F–k the Chinese government!”

In the episode called “Shots,” one of the plots follows Stan’s dad, Randy, who has founded a weed business, faced with a moral dilemma when immense profits from China come in conflict with human rights concerns.

As it happens, Towelie, Randy’s former business partner, bashes China for its human rights violations and condemns anyone who does business with them.

Randy eventually agrees to stop selling to China, and in order to make Towelie believe he’s sincere, ends up shouting, “F— the Chinese government!” See a video clip of the moment below, courtesy of the official “South Park” Twitter account.

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#SouthPark300 #BannedInChina pic.twitter... — (@SouthPark) 10/10/19

The episode comes just two days after “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker mocked both China’s reaction to last week’s episode and the way the NBA caved to Chinese pressure after the general manager of the Houston Rockets expressed support for Hong Kong protesters:

“Like the NBA, we welcome Chinese censors into our homes and into our hearts,” they said a statement.

“We too love money more than freedom and democracy. Xi doesn’t look just like Winnie the Pooh at all. Tune into our 300th episode this Wednesday at 10! Long live the Great Communist Party of China! May this autumn’s sorghum harvest be bountiful! We good now China?”

Last week’s episode, “Band in China,” heavily criticized China’s influence over Hollywood and other American businesses with large financial ties in the Communist-controlled country, including digs at [money-hungry] Disney and Marvel. More