Wang, 26, reposted the original Xinhua commentary on his social media account and won sympathy online, with many bloggers saying the criticism of his jokey remark by Xinhua was excessive.
Wang, the son of the property and cinema tycoon Wang Jianlin, made the remarks on Valentine’s Day after he had helped raise more than 500,000 yuan (about HK$690,000) by auctioning the chance to watch a film with him.
The original Xinhua commentary had said Wang “recklessly disseminates vulgar information … from the worship of money to sex and violence”.
It published a preview of its second article saying: “We’ve noticed our commentary about a certain ‘second generation’ has received quite some criticism, including insulting comments from microbloggers. In response, we’ve decided to publish another commentary entitled ‘Son of the rich, you’re making a mistake.’”
The commentary said Wang, as an influential celebrity, had made an inappropriate and shameless joke that objectified women.
Wang was not legally at risk for saying he wants a “buxom” girlfriend, but he needed to bear in mind there were certain jokes that should not be made, it said.
Xinhua also compared Wang to Ximen Qing, a character from two classic novels in Chinese literature, the Water Margin and Jin Pei Mei.
Ximen is depicted as a man from a rich family who keeps many mistresses and is a symbol of promiscuity and vulgarity in Chinese culture.
He sleeps with a married woman in the novels and colludes with her to kill her husband.
The Xinhua commentary said Wang shared the same sense of arrogance with the former Italian premier Berlusconi.
“I talk in whatever fashion I feel comfortable with because I’m the richest. So what?” the commentary said.
Wang sits as a board member at his father’s company Wanda Group and it recently entered into a partnership with Berlusconi’s soccer club AC Milan, according to Italian media reports.
The Xinhua commentary added that men’s biological desire for “buxom” women, if said explicitly by a male celebrity, tore down the “fig leaf on civilization”.
“He tore down that fig leaf on purpose, like a naughty boy that pees in public,” the commentary said.
The Empress of China, a popular mainland TV drama temporarily pulled off the air in late December for showing more cleavage than censors considered appropriate, was also singled out in the commentary as an example of “male-dominant popular culture" that it said objectifies and consumes women.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Xinhua hits back after scion shrugs off criticism
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