Chinese Popstar Jason Zhang Invites Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto to Appear at his Concert

Star Trek Beyond cast members Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg make a surprise appearance during pop star Jason Zhang's sold-out concert with over 12,000 of his fans at the Guangzhou International Sports Arena during their visit to China for the film premiere.

Zhang, the official China ambassador for Star Trek Beyond, sang the Chinese theme song for Star Trek Beyond through Huahua Media, the film production company which partnered with Paramount Pictures on the China release of Star Trek Beyond.

After winning season one of the Chinese singing competition series 'My Show' in 2004, Zhang was immediately signed to Shang Teng Universal. Since then, Zhang has released 11 albums and in 2014, received the 'Best International Artist' award at the American Music Awards. With a record of 11 billion downloads, 38 million Weibo followers and 66 million Baidu shares, Zhang is an unstoppable force in China and ready to take over the U.S.

At the same time that China has attempted to promote local, officially sanctioned pop singers such as Zhang, it has censored the artwork of others. China's contemporary artist Ai Weiwei has been called China's Andy Warhol. He was imprisoned without charges for 81 days in 2011.

Internet censorship in China is extreme due to a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. More than sixty Internet regulations have been created by the government of China, which have been implemented by provincial branches of state-owned ISPs, companies, and organizations, says Wikipedia.

The apparatus of China's Internet control is considered more extensive and more advanced than in any other country in the world. The governmental authorities not only block website content but also monitor the Internet access of individuals;[citation needed] such measures have attracted the derisive nickname "The Great Firewall of China." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_China

Amnesty International notes that China "has the largest recorded number of imprisoned journalists and cyber-dissidents in the world" and Paris-based Reporters Without Borders stated in 2010 and 2012 that "China is the world's biggest prison for netizens."

Crimes of which they are accused include communicating with groups abroad, signing online petitions, and calling for reform and an end to corruption.

The escalation of the government's effort to neutralize critical online opinion comes after a series of large, anti-pollution, anti-corruption protests, and ethnic riots, many of which were organized or publicized using instant messaging services, chat rooms, and text messages. The size of the Chinese Internet police force was reported by the state government to be 2 million in 2013.

Carrie Gracie wrote that local Chinese businesses such as Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba, some of the world's largest internet enterprises, benefited from the way China has blocked international rivals from the market, encouraging domestic competition.

In April 2015, Wikipedia sites in Chinese were blocked after Wikipedia started to use HTTPS which increased the difficulty of censorship.