China has launched a nationwide crackdown on "illegal terrifying
publications" such as "Death Note" to clean up publications market
ahead of Children's Day, according to a government circular.
"Death Note", one of the horror tales the government has ordered
off the shelves, has been read by many primary school students,
according to the circular issued by the National Office for
Cleaning Up Pornography and Fighting Illegal Publications.
"It contains elements of mystery, death and revenge, which is
harmful to children's psychological development," it said.
"It elaborates on different scaring ways of dying -- it will
even make adults feel uneasy, let alone children who are still
psychologically immature," said a Beijing municipal government
official.
The municipal government has received numerous complains from
parents and educators who says students are spending too munch time
reading the horror stories and not enough time studying, said the
official.
The circular orders local governments to confiscate the
publications by hunting down the books in book stores and street
vendors, especially around schools, and to give heavy penalties to
their publishing houses.
A previous crackdown has confiscated 2,409 "Death Note" books,
366 horror CDs and DVDs and 1,018 other illegal horror books across
the country.
(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2007)