Hollywood, Media to Varsities: It’s the House of the Dragon | Exclusive on China’s Growing Influence

Amid the poor economic condition of Europe, is China using its might and money power to control Hollywood, European academicians and influencers to spread its propaganda? Intelligence sources say so.

Since globalisation, Hollywood has been keen on expansion and exploring other markets, including China. Till 1991, the global revenue for Hollywood was 30%, which doubled by 2016. Gradually, the Chinese market has become a parameter for the success of any film. Film-makers are now asked to cater the Chinese audience of over 1.3 billion people. Desperate, even the film-makers are making changes to the cast, story and overall feel of their movie.

Meanwhile, with the increasing revenue from the Chinese market, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has realised its importance and is careful about the Hollywood content they release. The CCP censors movies, adding and deleting material, according to their own convenience, say sources.

NO CHRISTOPHER ROBIN, DEADPOOL

Here are a few examples. In the 2012 movie Red Dawn, the invading army was depicted as North Korean instead of Chinese. Additionally, the 2012 sci-fi movie Looper was originally supposed to shoot a scene in Paris, but the location was changed to Shanghai.

Films that do not adhere to China’s strict censorship guidelines are banned.

Christopher Robin (2018) was banned in China because Chinese netizens compared President Xi Jinping to the main character, Winnie the Pooh.

Other Hollywood movies banned in China include Deadpool (2016), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) and Call Me by Your Name (2017), which were received well outside the Chinese market.

BRIBE TO MISINFORM ON UYGHUR GENOCIDE?

Meanwhile, China is also attempting to buy influencers and European academicians across the globe to spread their propaganda, say sources.

The CCP is using European academicians to give out information on the Uyghur genocide carried out in Xinjiang. The party, through pay-offs and bribes, “managed" Western academicians to cover up the genocide, say sources.

In September 2019, in Xinjiang’s Urumqi, Christian Mestre, the Honorary Dean of the University of Strasbourg Faculty of Law, participated in an international seminar on the fight against terrorism, de-radicalisation and the protection of human rights.

The seminar was organised by the CCP and Mestre’s statements were used as a propaganda material in the Chinese media and even by the CCP.

European academicians condemned Mestre, even as there were reports that he was allegedly bribed to make the comments.