Discrimination has no place on TV shows

A comedy show about phone scams, telecast as part of the Spring Festival gala on Beijing TV on Jan 28, has aroused more questions than laughter, because the supposed swindler's voice-over on the show had an obvious Henan accent.

Central China's Henan province is home to more than 100 million people. And many Henan natives feel the show was discriminatory and allege the show intentionally tarnished their image by insinuating that Henan is home to swindlers.

So strong has been the reaction that a lawyer from Henan has sued the show's director and actors, and the TV station, accusing them of regional discrimination and maligning Henan residents' reputation. The lawyer has demanded that the defendants apologize for "depicting Henan residents" as "swindlers" and pay a compensation of 1 yuan ($0.16) to every person from Henan.