China finds various ways to persuade foreign governments to take action against what it considers "anti-China' activities. These could range from the Dalai Lama not being allowed into a country to putting restrictions on Uyghur activists and everything in between. It also extends to the field of art and sport.

The latest is Beijing's attempt to shut down a dissident artist's exhibition in a small Italian city. The northern city of Brescia was holding an exhibition by Shanghai-born artist Badiucao.
The issue hogged international limelight when the Chinese embassy in Rome wrote to the Mayor of Brescia Emilio Del Bono asking him to cancel the show as it would be "full of anti-Chinese lies," and that the artworks "distort the facts, spread false information, mislead the understanding of the Italian people and seriously injure the feelings of the Chinese people." (https://news.artnet.com/art-world/italy-anti-chinese-government-badiucao-show-2034812) The email threatened that the relations between Italy and China could be affected if the city went ahead with the show.

Badiucao is known for his artworks that take on the Chinese state directly. One of his paintings named 'Xi's going on a bear hunt' shows him with a gun sitting on Winne the Pooh. China is very sensitive about it as Xi has been often mocked in the past as resembling the cartoon character.
The city of Brescia surprised everybody, including the artist by its stand. The Mayor refused to bend before China, claiming that Brescia "always championed freedom of expression and would continue to do so." (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/12/arts/design/badiucao-brescia-china.html)

China has been successful in confronting anything that it considers as "anti-China." Sporting organisations like the NBA and others have sacked officials for criticizing China and even Hollywood has been accused of self-censorship. All because of the huge market that China offers.

Badiucao, who lives in Australia has said that he has been "harassed" by the Chinese authorities. His shows have been cancelled even in Sydney and Hong Kong after threats.

But Brescia and its mayor were made of sterner stuff.
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How China pressurised Brescia:
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/badiucao-italian-exhibition-chinese-embassy/index.html