U.S. bias, concerns only interfere with creative process: analysts
U.S. concern over rising Chinese investment in the Hollywood entertainment industry is unnecessary as it only serves to politicize normal communication between the two countries, analysts said.
Last month, about 16 U.S. lawmakers raised concerns about Chinese investments in the U.S. entertainment and media industries in a letter to Congress, calling for an expansion of the government process to review foreign investments in the country, The New York Times reported.
The letter, dated September 15, referred to Chinese property and entertainment giant Dalian Wanda Group's acquisition of leading Hollywood film producer Legendary Entertainment for as much as $3.5 billion and its previous purchase of AMC Theaters in 2012 for $2.6 billion.
Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University's Institute of International Relations, criticized the lawmakers for politicizing normal cultural communication between China and the U.S., which exposes the U.S.' lack of confidence and psychological vulnerability when dealing with China.
"The overall strength and foreign influence of the U.S. are dwindling due to its continuous involvement in wars, its weak economic recovery and politics," Li said, adding that China was viewed by the U.S. elite as creating all these problems.
Li's views were echoed by Shi Chuan, vice president of the Shanghai Film Association, saying that concerns that Chinese ideology was infringing on the U.S. was a cultural version of the China Threat theory.
"At present, China cannot influence entertainment and film content," Shi said, adding the bias and concerns would only interfere with the creative process.
A Los Angeles Times Op-Ed published on October 7 warned that, in line with the increase in Chinese capital and the obsession with the booming of the Chinese film market, Hollywood would end up letting China decide which movies to make.
The U.S. has been using films to spread its values to the world for over 100 years.
"In fact, some U.S. films used to malign China and distort facts about China to cater to its audience," Li said.
Li said taking the Chinese into consideration in filmmaking would help the U.S. audience learn about China, which would then lead to better relations.
China's dilemma
Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin told CNN in September that the lawmakers were "unnecessarily concerned" and announced that he was in talks to buy Golden Globe Awards producer Dick Clark Productions.
Another Chinese billionaire and owner of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Jack Ma on Sunday also announced his acquisition of a minority stake in Amblin Partners whose chairman is Steven Spielberg, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
While Chinese companies successfully entered Hollywood and U.S. movies continue to be screened in China, Chinese movies face a different situation overseas.
Domestically made live-action animation Monster Hunt, which made Chinese box office history in July 2015 with box office receipts of 2.44 billion yuan ($356.7 million), earned less than $30,000 in North America in January this year.
Most of the popular Chinese movies in North America are martial arts movies, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by Ang Lee in 2000 and Kung Fu Hustle by Steven Chow in 2004, according to Xinhua.
"There is still a huge cultural difference between China and the U.S.," Yin Hong, executive vice-president of Tsinghua University's School of Journalism and Communication, told the Global Times.
Yin noted that after watching U.S. movies for decades, Chinese people had already accepted and been affected by U.S. culture.
"On the other hand, China is still seeking for a proper way to promote its culture and communicate with the world," Yin said.
