A video posted by the Chinese government on Saturday has drawn backlash from India for depicting Chinese performers in blackface and turbans.
The Videos
China’s Ministry of Public Security, the country’s primary policing authority, reshared the video from Bilibili, a popular Chinese video-sharing platform, intending to educate citizens about the rules of road safety.
Another one: pic.twitter.com/3cWhkfB4au
— Aadil Brar (@aadilbrar) May 6, 2023
The minute-long video shows a Chinese parodist called Brother Hao riding a motorbike, wearing a Sikh turban. He is shown wearing heavy dark face makeup, and is seen imitating Indian dance moves from the 1990s.
Two other Chinese men — also wearing blackface — join the parodist on the bike and invite three fair-skinned women for a ride. The women are dressed in traditional Indian clothes.
In another video shared on Bilibili by Brother Hao, the performers can be seen eating at an unsanitary roadside food stall, along with a man dressed like an Indian woman.
You can't make this up! The official account of the Ministry of Public Security (Chinese police) has used the video of blackfaced Chinese performers who make videos while dancing to Bollywood tunes to teach people about road safety. https://t.co/4jvoN6Orea pic.twitter.com/HI7KaF40F1
— Aadil Brar (@aadilbrar) May 8, 2023
Reception
While the videos do not appear to be deemed problematic in China, with one viewer calling them “so magical,” they were met with criticism in India.
Columnist Aadil Brar from the Indian media house The Print said that the videos “are very much mocking India, Bollywood and Indians”, calling it “insane” that a Chinese ministry had shared such content.
I can’t unsee this. pic.twitter.com/UXwebZ41BR
— Aadil Brar (@aadilbrar) May 6, 2023
History
However, this is not the first time the Chinese government has courted controversy for depicting blackface.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV came under fire in February 2021 for showing dancers wearing blackface makeup during its Lunar New Year entertainment spectacle.
The broadcaster also faced accusations of racism and cultural insensitivity for its depiction of the African community in 2018, where dancers were dressed in African costumes and blackface.