The Chinese censors, recently, have cut Chow Yun-Fat’s scenes in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and have banned Jackie Chan’s Rush Hour 3 and now Jet Li has voiced frustration that his Hollywood films do not get shown in his home country.

Romeo Must Die was banned because it featured gangsters, as was Kiss of the Dragon, this time because Li played a Chinese police officer going abroad to fight and kill people. Cradle 2 the Grave fell foul of the censors because Li played a Taiwanese police officer and when he tried to avoid the police vs. gangsters plot with Unleashed, the film was accused of being racist and also banned.

So, Chinese police officers going abroad doesn’t work, and foreign police officers coming to China doesn’t work. It leaves only the ancient Chinese stories to be produced.

Li points out that “films don’t always have to be realistic,” and argues that China’s film industry is suffering as a result of the restrictions placed on it.

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