Kuang Biao’s cartoon made me smile. The caption translates as, ‘Take off your clothes. Now its your turn.’ This is making reference to the policy of citizens in China having to register using their real names, yet a total lack of transparency in government. The guy in the big coat with girls and cash stashed under it is supposed to be a government official.
For more on ‘running naked‘ on-line see the Global Voices feature on Zhang Lifan and his article, ‘Confessions of a naked internet runner.’ The Kafka-esque situation of ‘sensitive terms’ that are effectively banned on-line but not publicly acknowledged cannot help but evoke a dark political satire of authoritarianism. Maybe this is why some of the best political cartoonists have come from totalitarian regimes.
Filed under: Cartoons/Animation Tagged: | Asia, China, East Asia, web
