Chinese state media reportedly ordered not to report on Chloé Zhao's Oscar wins

Chloe Zhao.
(Image credit: Matt Petit/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images)

The Chinese government is not celebrating Chloé Zhao's historic Oscar victories, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Zhao, who was born and raised in China before moving to the United States in high school, on Sunday night became the first woman of color (and only the second woman ever) to win Best Director at the Academy Awards for her film Nomadland, which also notched best picture. But most state-controlled media organizations in her country of birth did not spread the news, with two state media journalists telling The Wall Street Journal that they had received orders from Beijing's propaganda ministry not to report on Zhao's awards. Congratulatory messages directed at Zhao on Chinese social media sites were also reportedly taken down.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.