In a country where piracy is a way of life and the circumscription of art by government muddies its social value, the Chinese Ministry of Culture has demonstrated crackerjack legislative priorities by, wait for it, banning lip synching. This follows the well known lip-synch scandal at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, and various other complaints about lip-synched performances. The Register reports:

China's ministry of culture has announced a clampdown on miming professional musos, marking an end to lip-synching and fake guitar strumming, the Guardian reports.

The ministry's Sun Qiuxia said it would first "consult with the public over the next few weeks, before agreeing final details of new rules on commercial performances". Said rules are a "two strikes and you're out" attack - those who "pretend to play their instruments twice or more in a two-year period" face a possible revocation of their business licences.

Note that "amateur performances", which includes such things as the Olympic performance, are exempt. So it's hard luck for club-crawling third raters fighting a case of the nodes, but just fine for the government to arrange full lip-synched state extravaganzas.

In fact, Imagethief, who spent many years playing in bands himself, is opposed to the lip-synch ban because, let's face it, there are some people that look great on stage and sound good after a thousand hours of studio massaging, but absolutely, positively should not be entrusted with a live microphone in any kind of public situation. To disregard this basic truth is to dangerously undermine the very foundation of Chinese pop music. And, in fact, much pop music in general, as pop music has often been much more about jiggle than actual musical talent.

The problem here is not one of whether lip-synching is right or wrong. This vast, philosophical grey area that would take years of scholarly debate to unpick. Superbowl halftime shows would be doomed if lip-synching was banned in the US, possibly leading to the collapse of American civilization as we know it (although that may be underway nevertheless, rendering the consequences moot). Much like, say, the credit default swap market, the problem is really one of transparency. That's why Imagethief feels that lip-synching should be allowed, but that any performer who is lip-synching should wear a big, scarlet "L". Or in China a big scarlet "唇". Preferably on the forehead where it will be visible in the glow of the Varilights.

There. Now the show can go on, and no one need feel cheated. Market forces, which thrive in transparent conditions, will handle the rest.