Is China spying on the Victoria's Secret fashion show?

This year's Victoria's Secret fashion show has been hit with a number of disasters and insiders are blaming the Chinese government's control.

Page Six reports that staffers for the lingerie giant are struggling to get the event back on track after facing bureaucracy and production chaos following the company's decision to hold it in Shanghai.

As previously reported, Chinese officials have refused singer Katy Perry and model Gigi Hadid visa for Monday's show.

Hadid drew ire in China after sharing a video online of her squinting her eyes while holding a small Buddha.

According to an insider, Perry was "initially granted a visa to perform at the VS show in Shanghai, then Chinese officials changed their minds and yanked her visa.

"For every artist who wants to perform in China, officials comb through their social media and press reports to see if they have done anything deemed to be offensive to the country."

Despite societal changes helping to relax prudish Communist-era attitudes and Chinese women becoming a growing consumer force in the lingerie market, political sensitivities and strict controls may overshadow the event.

"It's a very different political environment than their home markets and we're at a time when China is on a drive to clean up behaviour and push a sort of moral code," Ben Cavender, Shanghai-based principal at China Market Research Group told Reuters.

Sources have now claimed that permits for press have been hampered and e-mails of the China-based team and production crew are being monitored by Chinese authorities. The Victoria's Secret staffers are allegedly reluctant to reach out to the US headquarters for fear of having their missives intercepted and used against them.

"They want to discuss what's going on as far as replacements for those denied visas and alternative arrangements, but they have to be tight-lipped because it seems that the government is watching their e-mails," a source told Page Six.

China keeps a tight rein on its residents and those who visit the country by limiting access to sites like Facebook and Gmail using its 'Great Firewall'.

It is widely believed that the government 'spy' on possible troublemakers and those that they believe could pose a threat to its communist government by reading emails and taking action. China was named the world's worst abuser of internet freedom in Freedom on the Net for the third consecutive year.

Material on a range of issues is systematically censored, including independent evaluations of China's human rights record, critiques of government policy, discussions of politically and socially sensitive topics, and information about the authorities' treatment of ethnic and religious minorities. Censorship becomes more intense or expansive during politically sensitive events or in response to breaking news.

Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Bjork and Bon Jovi are all banned from China over perceived bad behaviour and Maroon 5 was refused entry because one band member wished the Dalai Lama happy birthday on Twitter.

The Victoria's Secret fashion show airs on 28 November at 10pm EST on CBS.