Blowback from the 2008 Olympics
Apparently reaction to the 2008 lip-syncing fiasco (in which the seven-year-old singer at the Olympic Opening Ceremony was deemed “not cute enough” and replaced with a girl who lip-synced to a recording) was stronger than I thought: Lip-syncing has now been banned in China, and two pop stars are facing fines.
This is the Chinese government at its most emblematic: Endlessly policing its manifold departments by wielding the Banhammer over anonymous underlings in order to save face.