China bans British football game

China has banned British computer game Football Manager 2005, saying it violated Chinese law by referring to Taiwan, Hong Kong and other regions claimed by China as separate countries.

A notice on the Culture Ministry’s website said the game contained “content harmful to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity … (that) seriously violates Chinese law and has been strongly protested by our nation’s gamers”.

The game, launched on November 5, is not sold in China and has no Chinese language version.

But government departments have been ordered to search for the game online and in computer software markets, cyber cafes and news-stands that sell pirated software and to seize any copies found, the notice said.

Outlets providing the game can be fined up to 30,000 yuan (€2,722) and have their licences pulled. Internet service providers that fail to prevent subscribers from downloading the game can be fined up to 15,000 yuan (€1,360) and lose their licences.

Marc Duffy, a spokesman for the game’s developer, Sports Interactive Ltd., said the ministry’s statement appeared to refer to content in the English language version of the game that was never intended for distribution in China.

He said the company and local partner, game publisher Ubisoft Entertainment were working on a Chinese version for release in China and would comply with local requirements.

“We will follow the correct submission and approval process within China and look forward to feedback from the Chinese authorities on any modifications that may be required,” Duffy said in a statement.

The ban underscores China’s extreme sensitivity over any perceived slight to its national prestige amid rising global economic and political clout.

China claims self-governing Taiwan and recovered Hong Kong from Britain in 1997. The Culture Ministry said the game also contained references to Tibet, which Chinese troops occupied in 1951, and Macau, a former Portuguese colony handed over to China in 1999.

Foreign companies making everything from cell phones to packaged food have run into similar trouble for allegedly violating Chinese sensitivities.

China this week banned a Nike television commercial showing LeBron James, the reigning NBA rookie of the year, in a mock video game setting battling and defeating a kung fu master, two women in traditional Chinese attire and a pair of dragons.

The State Administration for Radio, Film and Television said the ad violated national dignity and was disrespectful and blasphemous toward Chinese culture.

It did not say why the advertisement was considered offensive. But communist officials are sensitive about the use of Chinese cultural symbols by Westerners and might have been especially angered that the Nike advertisement showed a foreigner winning the fight.

The Nike ad has also been pulled from window displays in Nike’s Chinese outlets.