Beijing Media Ban on Actor

The film was passed by the Chinese authorities. The censored sex scenes were a hit on the internet. But the female lead in Lust, Caution, Tang Wei, has been pronounced too hot for the mainland media. The government has reportedly banned broadcasters and newspapers from showing or printing images of Tang, who was the talk of the Mandarin-speaking world last year for her passionate portrayal of a student activist in Ang Lee's award-winning film.

According to Taiwan and Hong Kong media, a skin care commercial that features Tang has been pulled. TV companies have been advised not to invite her or the producers of Lust, Caution on their awards shows. No reason was given by China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, which issued the instructions last Thursday.

But officials are known to be furious about the thriller, which sympathetically depicts the relationship between a spy for the Japanese and the Chinese woman assigned to seduce him. They reportedly criticized it as "glorification of traitors and insulting to patriots".