TV dating show runs afoul of censors in China

Audiences loved all the titillation, until last month — when Chinese government censors came down hard. After a contestant indicated she was angling for a wealthy man with a flashy car, government nannies ordered all matchmaking shows to cut the sexual innuendo, uphold traditional values, and ban any talk of women “gold digging.’’

The censorship is the latest and most public example of the government’s new crackdown on vice and perceived immorality. It comes even as China becomes more freewheeling and open, with people increasingly pushing the boundaries in matters involving taste, sex, and money.

In April, public security police in Beijing launched a “hard strike’’ campaign against prostitution, shutting down 33 entertainment venues — karaoke bars, massage parlors, and nightclubs — said to be fronts for sex workers.

An Internet white paper published last month called online pornography “a prominent issue of public concern’’ because it was “seriously damaging the physical and psychological health of young people.’’

And a spate of recent articles in officially sanctioned newspapers and magazines have been advocating a return to traditional moral values and a shift away from the country’s expanding get-rich-quick ethos — including the commercialization of sex.

In an article in the Communist Party Central Committee’s official magazine, Li Changchun, a senior member of the ruling Politburo, said the leadership must “resolutely clear out the bawdy pornography.’’ And a commentary in the Beijing Youth Daily said young women who chase after rich men “show they have already knelt down before money.’’

The new morality crusade will find some resonance, particularly among older people and the more conservative sections of society — especially in rural areas — that remember a more traditional China, where marriages were more often arranged and open talk about sex was largely taboo.