The China Daily often takes articles from other websites without permission, but usually the websites belong to local magazines or bloggers. Today, the state-owned newspaper goes up a level and reproduces an entire New York Times article -- a review of Zhang Yimou's film House of Flying Daggers. Even the images are reproduced.

The article is credited to "Agencies".

The Times piece is about something that no-one in China seemed to notice: that House of Flying Daggers is kinda kinky:

In "Daggers," Jin spies on the bathing Mei (A virgin? Who knows?). Mei realizes he is there, and lets him know she knows. And she lets him continue watching, a lead-up to steamy smooching session that made at least one knowledgeable viewer say he wanted to "leave the theater to give them some privacy."

That viewer was Grady Hendrix, a co-founder of Subway Cinema, a group in New York that fosters and exhibits Asian films. Something else surprised Mr. Hendrix.

"Things get downright fetishy when Mei's captors take her to the dungeon and show her the torture device they're going to use," he said. He also mentioned the scene in which the two male costars are tied up in a "Japanese hemp-and-rope bondage kind of way," adding with a laugh, "It should be called 'House of the Flying Fetish.' " And to top it off, Mei is blind.

"China may be one of the only countries that can legitimately balance that line between characters who want to tear each other's clothes off or to do nothing but talk and have it be very sexual," Mr. Hendrix said, mentioning similarities with the 1950's in America.

Summing up this critical juncture in mainland Chinese onscreen mores, he said: "They can walk the line between passion and morality. It comes out of a real place in terms of culture and values. It feels Chinese."

The New York times piece is here, the China Daily rip-off is here.

New York Times article found via Ellen Sander's Crackpot Chronicles blog which is a quirky mixture of liberal American commentary and China related stuff. Go to Ellen's homepage here for the full strength poetry / 1960s hippie and rocker crackpot experience.