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Last year, Luo Changping, a businessman and former investigative journalist in China, was sentenced to prison for seven months after he questioned China’s role in the Korean War. Mr. Luo was charged under a new criminal code that makes the defamation of political martyrs a crime.
Recently, in addition to traditional Chinese forms of comedy, the Western variety of standup has grown more popular in metropolitan cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. The art form reached mainstream prominence due, in part, to the success of Rock and Roast, a standup competition that drew millions of fans during the pandemic, when lockdowns confined many Chinese to their home. The show, run by Xiaoguo, turned Mr. Li, who goes by the stage name “House,” into a star.
“There’s an inherent tension between standup comedy as a genre and the heavily censored cultural domain in China,” said Sheng Zou, an assistant professor at Hong Kong Baptist University who specializes in popular culture in China.
Comedy thrives in places where comedians can satirize or comment on political or ideological tropes. But in China, Mr. Zou said, “you have a very limited set of options for what kinds of material you can draw on.”
Mr. Li was suspended indefinitely by Xiaoguo immediately following the performance, according to a statement by the comedy company on Monday. In an earlier Weibo post, the comedian said he was “deeply ashamed and regretful,” calling his comparison “very inappropriate.”
Mr. Li and Xiaoguo could not immediately be reached for comment.
On Chinese social media, reactions to the fine varied, with some commenters saying that it was too severe. One widely shared comment pointed out that a company that had provided fake P.C.R. test results was fined no more than $11,000.
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