Hello Kitty company cuts ties with Japanese spy show after China outcry

Sanrio ends association with Netflix TV drama Vivant after Chinese state media decried portrayal of ruthless Chinese agents as a ‘deliberate smear’

The company behind the successful Hello Kitty franchise has apologised and ended its commercial tie-up with a Japanese TV drama after Chinese state media and netizens condemned the show’s “deliberate smears” against their country.

Sanrio, a Japanese firm whose characters are popular around the world, said in a post on the Chinese social media site Weibo that it had decided to end its association with the Netflix TV drama Vivant after concluding that it “contained elements inconsistent with Sanrio’s core values”.