NORTH HILLS, Calif.—Pacific Sun Entertainment said Monday it has succeeded in delivering gay adult DVDs to a customer in the People’s Republic of China, despite the country’s increasingly strict censorship of materials officials have labeled “harmful” to Chinese culture.
“All I am at liberty to reveal is that [the recipient] is a wholesale customer in the Republic of China,” Pacific Sun Production and Marketing Director Michael LaBarbera told AVN.com. “We have verification [of delivery] from the shipping company.”
Pornography in any form is illegal in China. On Jan. 1, several government departments embarked on a “cultural cleansing” mission that expanded efforts to eradicate sexually explicit materials from the internet. Since then, hundreds of people have been “detained.” Observers believe the crackdown is part of an attempt to sanitize Chinese culture ahead of the 60th anniversary of Communist rule, which will be marked by a celebration in October.
Pacific Sun Chief Executive Officer Pritam Sinha said he was inspired to defy Chinese censors after attending the Erotic Expo in Macao last fall. While in the Far East for the trade show, he denounced the Chinese government’s anti-porn stance on Hong Kong’s gay television channel.
“Despite all the recent press about the repressive and restrictive Communist government, there are areas of the Chinese republic that are struggling for their civil and personal rights—something the GLBT community can certainly understand,” Sinha said.
With that in mind, he said he contacted a number of gay adult studios with a plan to ship product into the country. The response from studios like Lucas Entertainment and Eurocreme was positive, he noted.
“I am glad many other top studios have been as excited as I am in this attempt to conquer this vast and forbidden market,” he said. “Another major shipment is supposed to go out this week from Pacific Sun, with mostly products from other gay studios.
“This new ‘invasion’ of forbidden land is nothing new in Pacific Sun’s support for free speech,” Sinha added. “We have shipped products to large retail customers in the Middle East. However, this is Pacific Sun’s first entry into the wholesale markets in Asia.”
LaBarbera admitted it may be too soon to draw any firm conclusions about the project’s long-term prospects for success.
“I guess we can chalk up [the first shipment’s evasion of censors] to the mysteries of the East,” LaBarbera told AVN.com. “Will the Silk Road become the Porn Path? Only time will tell.”
For more information, visit PacificSunEntertainment.com.
