Chinese TV show host suspended for derogatory remarks against Mao

BEIJING, April 9 (UPI) -- A Chinese TV show host has been suspended after a video of him making derogatory remarks about Mao Zedong at a private dinner began circulating on the Internet.

The one-minute, 18-second clip shows Bi Fujian, host of Chinese Saturday night show Star Boulevard, singing a song popular during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 70s.

The Washington Post reported that Bi at one point in his singing called Mao a "son of a bitch" who "brought [China] great misery."

The video clip appeared to have been filmed on the mobile phone of an unidentified dinner guest and uploaded on Monday, CNN reported.

Bi's Saturday's show has since been canceled and local media in China said the show has been suspended for at least four days.

Bi has since apologized.

"I sincerely offer my deep apology to the public. As a public figure, I will learn from this, and exercise strict self-discipline," he said in a statement.

Bi's suspension comes at a time when Mao's legacy is being revived under President Xi Jinping, according to The Washington Post.

In the past, President Xi has said the cause of the Soviet Union's collapse originated in its dismissal of the memories of Lenin and Stalin.

The Chinese Communist Party reveres Mao as the founding father of the People's Republic of China.

But 40 years after his death, the party admits that Mao was wrong "30 percent" of the time.

The TV show host's title of National Army Primary School Ambassador was to be revoked, according to China's National Red Army Construction Project Council.

Bi's employer CCTV said Bi's remarks on the video has led to "grave social consequences."

Public opinion was critical of the suspension of a television personality known as "Grandpa Bi" to his fans, but Mao loyalists condemned Bi.

The latest development follows the March arrest of five Chinese feminists who were in custody for provoking social instability.

"A government that fears people's criticism, it only proves that the government is too fragile!" said one commenter on China's Sina Weibo microblogging service.