In Mainland China however, there is no rating system, so filmmakers must cut entire scenes of possibly objectional material, lest their film be banned outright. In most cases the cut scenes include horror, sex and violence, although in other cases, such as Pirates of the Carribbean 3, Chow Yun-fat's scenes were removed because they were deemed to be offensive to Chinese people.
Many in China, including Gong Li, who sits on a government board relating to film, believe that a ratings system will be beneficial to the film industry, but the government office in charge of film, SARFT, thus far has resisted these calls for change. As it stands now, any movie that is approved to play is open to all viewers, even children.
In Hong Kong, which has a 4-tier rating system, it is believed that the film will still need to be edited to a lessor degree to be approved for play in theaters under its most strict rating. 'Category III' films in Hong Kong are restricted to adults only. 'Lust, Caution' opens September 23rd in Hong Kong, but its Mainland China release date has been postponed due to the government's recently announced blackout period preceding the upcoming Party Congress in October.