Tbh not a huge fan of the way that they are handling cultural elements within the PRC at the moment. I also admit that I don't have a solid understanding of modern Chinese culture of course (someone can feel free to color that in if they have such an understanding).
I kinda sorta agree that "political comedy" should be stifled a bit. This shit is serious, and should not fall within the domain of "freedom of speech", but that's just my opinion.
What I don't trust (a point made by this article in the liberal SCMP) is low-level enforcers walking around entertainment venues and nitpicking this or that or whatever, possibly cracking down extra because of what they believe the expectations of their higher ups are. At the same time, you kinda need to nip this stuff early cause it can propagate fast. Better to have a small shitshow like the one comic at the center of the article, rather than him getting some momentum and dealing with a bigger one. Idk, it's a very fine line with this stuff, and very difficult to get right.
The PRC may have a brighter future than the West, but they probably won't be able to have widely permissible civil liberties until they have a demonstrably brighter present. Seems to be getting closer every year though.
idk if it's good policy, but remember that the US loved using rock acts to do agitprop in the Eastern Bloc during the cold war, so I can see why they would take such a tact.
Plus imagine how simple the plot of Green Room would be if they could have just called up the Chinese cops and said "Here's an illegal Nazi bar"