'The Departed' banned from China

HONG KONG -- Martin Scorsese's hot crime thriller "The Departed" -- in which Boston gangsters try to sell computer technology to ethnic Chinese villains -- won't be showing in China. A state-run distributor has rejected the film, an industry executive said Thursday.\nChina Film Group, the major importer of films shown in mainland China, told the American movie's Hong Kong distributor, Media Asia, that the Hollywood hit is unsuitable for Chinese audiences, though it gave no reason, said Media Asia marketing manager Chan Ka-li.\n"They sent a letter to us saying this movie is inappropriate, so they won't import it," she said.\nThe move effectively blocks the Warner Bros. movie out of China's theater market, and Chan said her company does not plan to lobby for a reversal of the decision.\n"If they've seen the movie and they don't think it's appropriate, then there's probably nothing we can do," she said.\nYuan Wenqiang, a vice president at China Film Group, confirmed the company's sales staff passed on "The Departed."\n"After they watched it, they thought it wasn't suited for the mainland Chinese market," he said. "They didn't give concrete reasons."\nLeaking U.S. technology to China is a sensitive political issue, and its portrayal in the movie likely worried the company's executives.\nChina allows only about 20 imported films a year, and government censors routinely reject major Hollywood movies.