Like countless Americans, I recently watched the entire second season of hit political drama "House of Cards" in one weekend after U.S. video streaming site Netflix released all 13 nearly hour-long episodes. But the website I logged on was Sohu -- one of the China's biggest online video services -- that purchased exclusive rights to the series for mainland China, and posted the latest season at the same time as Netflix. Glued to my laptop, I couldn't help but notice the major role China plays this season as one riveting plot unfolds after another. If you have been reading news headlines out of China, you would find any of the China angles familiar and believable: suspected cyber espionage, a trade war with Washington, a territorial dispute with Japan -- complete with an utterly corrupt Communist Party insider who boasts direct access to the decision-making Standing Committee.
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Chinese online video service Sohu purchased exclusive rights to hit U.S. series
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Second series of political drama features a number of storylines involving China
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China restricts number of foreign movies, authorities censor material from foreign sources
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China columnist: Strong diatribe against political system in the U.S. rather than against China
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