No More Fun and Games: How China’s Acquisition of U.S. Media Entities Threatens America’s National S

[Smokin Joe]

No More Fun and Games: How China’s Acquisition of U.S. Media Entities Threatens America’s National Security

https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/no-more-fun-and-games-how-china%E2%80%99s-acquisition-of-us-media-entities-threatens-america%E2%80%99s-nati

Darren E. Tromblay

Introduction

In recent months, U.S. – Chinese tensions have flared over China’s activities in the South China Sea and over the handling of North Korea.  However, these overt confrontations represent only one aspect of China’s efforts to undermine U.S. elements of national power.  China has a well-established respect for information warfare.  Chinese companies have made a variety of acquisitions in the United States that it can leverage to influence U.S. decision-making.  While certain aspects of this buying spree – telecom and media purchases – have made national headlines and prompted U.S. government inquiries, China’s entry into - and consolidation of its holdings in - the entertainment field provide a vector that has not been sufficiently scrutinized.

China’s Philosophy Regarding Information Warfare

China has long-recognized the value of information warfare.  The Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) has operated with the understanding that gaining control over adversaries’ information and information systems, at times preemptively, is essential to successful warfighting.  In 2003, the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee and its Central Military Commission approved a warfare concept for the PLA which explicitly included actions to target public opinion – specifically degrading adversaries’ justification for action - via the media.[ii]

Possibly more relevant than ever.

[PeteS in CA]

From the article:

Dalian Wanda first acquired infrastructure for film distribution.  In 2012, it purchased the AMC theater chain.  It followed this, in 2016, with the purchase, through AMC, of Carmike Cinemas.  In combination these two chains represent the largest theater group in the United States.  Dalian Wanda has indicated that it intends to use its theater ownership to China’s advantage, by edging out other content.  Wang has stated that, “more Chinese films should be in [AMC’s] theaters where possible”.  Furthermore, theater ownership may also result in censorship of material that runs counter to China’s preferred narrative.  As Carolyn Bartholomew, a member of the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission noted, in 2013, “This investment in the entertainment industry, particularly if you look at movies and other sort of cultural production, it’s perhaps not quite as benign as we think that it might be. I’m waiting to see if there any forthcoming movies about Tibet and whether the AMC theatres will be allowed to show them.”

In an apparent effort to promote the production of the Chinese films that Wang desires, Dalian Wanda as well as other Chinese companies have started acquiring ownership stakes in U.S. movie studios.  In 2016, Dalian Wanda purchased Legendary Entertainment – a major Hollywood studio responsible for multiple blockbusters prior to being acquired by the Chinese.  (Dalian Wanda also made a failed bid to acquire Dick Clark Productions.)  However, Dalian Wanda is not the only Chinese firm accumulating influence in the film industry.  Paramount Pictures – after a failed deal to sell a 49 percent share to Dalian Wanda – struck a deal with the Chinese film companies Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media.

[aligncare]

The president had two major issues that propelled him to office; the southern border wall and the economic threat China poses to America.

We (and the world) are fortunate to have Donald Trump leading at this time of global panic over a viral outbreak that has exposed weaknesses in United States and European economic dependence on China’s cheap labor and prolific manufacturing base.

No other president has ever shown such willingness to reverse the trend towards globalization like Donald Trump and his America first agenda. With Trump as president there’s a good chance we will see much less reliance on China for strategic resources.

[Smokin Joe]

The president had two major issues that propelled him to office; the southern border wall and the economic threat China poses to America.

We (and the world) are fortunate to have Donald Trump leading at this time of global panic over a viral outbreak that has exposed weaknesses in United States and European economic dependence on China’s cheap labor and prolific manufacturing base.

No other president has ever shown such willingness to reverse the trend towards globalization like Donald Trump and his America first agenda. With Trump as president there’s a good chance we will see much less reliance on China for strategic resources.

That's the bottom line.
Others have pimped a prosperity partly buoyed by cheap stuff from overseas, as opposed to buying power at home, even as American manufacturing has been exported.