Universal Studios Beijing Opens Amid Concerns Over China Influencing Western Entertainment

News Analysis

Universal Studios inaugurated a edifice successful Beijing connected Sept. 20, aft a two-decade wait, amid concerns implicit the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) power connected the Western amusement industry.

The CCP aims to make a affirmative representation of itself by influencing Hollywood done ample investments and the imaginable of entering, oregon being restricted from, the monolithic Chinese market.

NBCUniversal’s Universal Parks & Resorts holds a number involvement of 30 percent successful the project. Five state-run companies ain the remaining bulk done the Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment Company.

The resort—Universal’s largest and its 5th globally—is the archetypal large edifice for Beijing, portion different large Chinese cities similar Shanghai and Hong Kong already person Disney resorts.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said during a Q3 Earnings Call successful 2017 that Universal Beijing’s gross could beryllium “well implicit $1 cardinal successful operating currency flow” per year.

The task was primitively enactment guardant 20 years agone by the Beijing Tourism Group. Yet Universal Studios lone announced the improvement successful 2014 astatine an estimated outgo of $3.3 billion. The archetypal concern was aboriginal accrued to $6.5 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

According to a study by PEN America, a non-profit radical focused connected defending state of expression, workplace genitor companies’ concern and stakes successful these taxable parks service arsenic a signifier of concern unit that induces self-censorship successful Hollywood. The CCP’s power successful Hollywood is simply a brushed powerfulness propulsion “distinctive for the grade of power it seeks to exert connected each mode planetary of representations and depictions of itself arsenic a rising planetary superpower,” according to the report.

The CCP “is trying to reshape the planetary accusation environment,” the Guardian reported successful 2018. “The purpose is to power nationalist sentiment overseas successful bid to nudge overseas governments into making policies favorable toward China’s Communist Party.”

Censorship is the CCP’s limb of prime successful Hollywood productions. China’s lucrative movie marketplace is coveted by Hollywood, arsenic it reported $9.1 cardinal successful container bureau gross successful 2019, according to IMDB. Further, the CCP limits overseas movie imports to 34 per year.

PEN America cites UCLA Professor Michael Berry saying, “lots of these broadcast and media companies person their hands successful galore antithetic pies, truthful wherefore jeopardize large concern ventures for 90 seconds of contented that could conscionable arsenic easy beryllium cut?”

“Instituting self-censorship is the mode to go, particularly arsenic the large mainstream blockbusters request China,” Berry said successful the PEN report. “Hollywood has internalized these self-censorship mechanisms.”

Through self-censorship filmmakers debar mentioning issues that could choler the Chinese regime. Restricted topics see Taiwan, Tibet, Falun Gong, Xinjiang, oregon thing that mightiness overgarment China successful a atrocious light.

However, the CCP makes different unclear censorship demands. PEN America asserts this deficiency of regulatory transparency causes writers and producers to beryllium “extra cautious successful self-censoring for fearfulness of crossing an invisible line.”

For example, successful “Doctor Strange” (2016) filmmakers took the archetypal comics’ Ancient One—the main character’s mentor, who was a Tibetan man—and rewrote it arsenic a Celtic woman, allegedly to debar losing entree to the Chinese movie market.

Also, the “Top Gun” sequel removed the Taiwanese emblem from Maverick’s leather bomber jacket, successful opposition with the 1 helium sports successful the archetypal film.

Views expressed successful this nonfiction are the opinions of the writer and bash not needfully bespeak the views of The Epoch Times.