{"id":3478,"date":"2026-10-29T11:03:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T06:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3478"},"modified":"2026-10-29T11:03:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T06:03:48","slug":"hello-kitty-maker-sanrio-cuts-ties-with-tv-spy-show-after-china-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3478","title":{"rendered":"Hello Kitty maker Sanrio cuts ties with TV spy show after China backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Hello Kitty maker Sanrio has cancelled a collaboration with a Japanese TV spy show after \u200ca backlash in China, the second incident in days to highlight the tightrope foreign firms and celebrities must walk in the lucrative market.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Wednesday announcement by Sanrio\u2019s Chinese subsidiary came just after French soccer star Kylian Mbappe<\/a> apologised for remarks about late \u200bChinese leader Mao Zedong that saw several Chinese sponsors cut ties with him.<\/p>\n

The hit show VIVANT, \u200bproduced by Japanese broadcaster TBS and also available on Netflix, centres on Japanese spies \u2060and a terrorist organisation called Tent.<\/p>\n

The latest season, currently being aired, depicts a fictional Chinese intelligence \u200bagency capturing and torturing some of the Japanese spies.<\/p>\n

Chinese anger over Sanrio\u2019s range of soft toys, including Hello \u200bKitty, dressed as spies from the show has simmered for days on social media and came to a head this week when Chinese state media ramped up the condemnation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe deeply apologise for the concern this has caused everyone,\u201d Sanrio\u2019s Chinese subsidiary \u200bsaid in a statement.<\/p>\n

Regarding this collaboration, we believe it contains expressions that are inconsistent with the corporate \u200bphilosophy of the Sanrio Group.<\/p>\n

We have therefore decided to terminate this collaboration along with all subsequent projects and promotional \u200cactivities.\u201c
TBS \u2060did not have an immediate comment on the cancellation.<\/p>\n

TBS President Masamine Ryuho said at a regular press conference on Wednesday that the drama is \u201centirely fictional and has no intention of disparaging any specific country\u201d, local media reported.<\/p>\n

Relations between China and Japan have plunged since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi late last year said that a \u200bhypothetical Chinese attack on \u200bdemocratically ruled Taiwan could \u2060trigger a military response from Tokyo.<\/p>\n

China has urged its citizens not to travel to Japan and throttled exports of rare earths to the country, minerals vital to \u200bthe manufacturing of everything from cars to weapons.<\/p>\n

Swathes of Japanese firms, including Sanrio, \u200bhowever, are \u2060still reliant on the world\u2019s second-biggest economy for sales.<\/p>\n

Sanrio booked sales of 9.8 billion yen in China in the first quarter, up almost 25% on the same period a year earlier.<\/p>\n

Foreign brands have often faced \u2060public backlash \u200bin China.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello Kitty maker Sanrio has cancelled a collaboration with a Japanese TV spy show after \u200ca backlash in China, the second incident in days to highlight the tightrope foreign firms and celebrities must walk in the lucrative market. The Wednesday announcement by Sanrio\u2019s Chinese subsidiary came just after French soccer star Kylian Mbappe apologised for remarks about late \u200bChinese leader Mao Zedong that saw several Chinese sponsors cut ties with him. The hit show VIVANT, \u200bproduced by Japanese broadcaster TBS and also available on Netflix, centres on Japanese spies \u2060and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3478\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}