China has rejected criticism that the ‘blackface’ skit performed at this year’s Lunar New Year Gala was racist, suggesting that Western media reports exaggerated the incident.
A comedy sketch during state-run CCTV’s big end-of-year show has caused widespread uproar due to a Chinese actress dressing as an African woman while wearing a large buttock prosthetic.
When asked to comment on the controversial incident during a press conference on Thursday, Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Ministry, questioned whether it was even a diplomatic matter, before asking the reporter to contact the gala’s organiser.
“As a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, I can tell you that China opposes any form of racism,” stated Geng, hinting that Western media has made use of the incident to drive a wedge between China and Africa. He then said that this move was “doomed to fail”, as the two have forged an “impregnable friendship” through years of confronting hardship together.
The CCTV New Year Gala, also known as the Spring Festival Gala, is one of the world’s most viewed TV shows. China News Service has revealed that more than 1.1bn viewers at home and abroad watched the 2018 edition.
Originally, the comedy sketch was intended to celebrate the strong bond between China and Africa. However, the sketch, which also featured an African actor dressed as a monkey, has drawn accusations of racism from observers online, as the notion of blackface is deemed a racial stereotype in many parts of the world.
Source: gbtimes.com
