China has removed a South Korea cartoon TV series from online video applications after complaints it had contained inaccurate information about China culture and geography.
Viewers said the children's cartoon show had been misleading children about the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival and the size of the country's territory. The cartoon "Super Wings"is no longer available on China video streaming sites such as Bilibili and Youku.
The cartoon is produced by FunnyFlux Entertainment in South Korea and distributed by Alpha Group in China. The show was first aired in China on Hunan TV in 2015. It follows the adventures of an anthropomorphized airplane as he travels all over the world to explore cultures.
Online users in China found fault with the show - particularly how it depicted the country's culture and geography. Some users said some episodes showed a map of China with a number of regions missing - including its borders with India, the south Tibet region, the country's borders with North Korea and some parts of the Changbai Mountains. The show covered Taiwan in several episodes.
In one episode, the show implied the Mid-Autumn Festival had originated in Korea. Some parents are concerned how the show had misled their children.
"After watching, my daughter thinks the festival originated in Korea and we need to eat Songpyeon, even after I tried all morning to educate her about the festival and about eating moon cakes," one parent said on Weibo.
After the show was taken down, some online users praised the immediate action. One user said that the country doesn't need the kind of children's show that teaches wrong information.
Some companies that had partnered with Alpha Group to use the show in advertisements have denied they used the particular episodes. VIP Think and Codemao said they check the content of episodes to ensure they pass the correct information and values to children.
