Chinese State‑Linked Media Acquisitions and Influence Operations Targeting Global Culture and Hollywood

BREAKING DOWN DEMOCRACY: Goals, Strategies, and Methods of Modern Authoritarians The CCP has also asserted control over news outlets in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Chinese diaspora commu- nities around the world.’® Beijing has used pressure tactics and exerted influence through intermediaries to change editors or owners of critical outlets in Hong Kong.’? Wealthy progovernment forces from the mainland have begun to buy up media outlets in Hong Kong and elsewhere. And there have been instances in which businessmen with economic interests in China have attempted to expand their media holdings in Taiwan.** Perhaps more disturbing is China's effort to purchase influence in global culture through its state-affiliated and nominally private companies. For example, Visual China Group, a mainland company, has purchased the image and licensing division of Corbis, a company that controls a huge archive of historically important photographs. The trove includes iconic photographs of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, which CCP censors have worked hard to keep out of the Chinese media. Those involved in the sale offered assurances that the new owners would not hinder the global circulation of politically sensitive images, but there is little to prevent them from casting aside such pledges at some future date.°? Another Chinese company, Dalian Wanda Group, has raised concerns with its rapid incursions into the U.S. film industry. Already the world’s largest owner of cinemas, including the second-largest U.S. theater chain, Wanda purchased Legendary Entertainment, a production company, in 2016 and is said to be inter- ested in gaining control of a major Hollywood studio. American lawmakers were sufficiently disturbed by Wanda’ initiatives to request a Justice Department in- vestigation. There is concern that China's companies, with state encouragement, are pursuing influence in Hollywood to ensure a favorable depiction of China and its CCP regime in major films.°° Even with studios under U.S. ownership, the international media have repeatedly uncovered cases in which U.S. filmmakers altered elements of their work to address or anticipate the objections of Chinese censors, who serve as gate- keepers to the country's lucrative domestic market. Exploiting democratic culture for authoritarian ends Ironically, some products of democratic culture have facilitated the work of modern authoritarian propa- gandists. The notion that there is no such thing as objective truth and that history is nothing more than a contest of competing narratives owes its popularity to radical theorists who have gained a strong foothold in academia and even among some who call themselves journalists, such as Glenn Greenwald. While accusations that the press is biased or publish- es lies are common in American political campaigns, the hysterical charges hurled by Donald Trump against the media during the 2016 presidential campaign served to reinforce the Kremlin's model of a world in which the truth is determined by power rather than impartial investigation. Moscow especially makes shrewd use of an unfortu- nate journalistic habit in which evenhandedness—a worthy goal when presenting two sides in a genuine debate—is improperly applied, so that patently false assertions are treated as symmetrical with legitimate views or facts. Many outside Russia would not disagree with Kise- lyov's dismissive views on the concept of impartial reporting. In meeting the challenge of authoritarian propaganda, a good place to start would be a reaffir- mation of the central role occupied by high-quality, traditional journalism in democratic societies. 1. See for example “Russia,” in Freedom of the Press 2004 (New York: Freedom House, 2004), https://freedomhouse.org/report/free- dom-press/2004/russia. 2. Christopher Walker and Robert Orttung, “Russias Media Autarky Strengthens Its Grip,” Real Clear World, November 30, 2014, http:// www.realclearworld.com/articles/2014/11/30/russias_media_autarky 110826.html. 3. “Russia,” in Freedom on the Net 2016 (New York: Freedom House, 2016), https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2016/rus- sia. 4. Peter Pomerantsev and Michael Weiss, The Menace of Unreality: How the Kremlin Weaponizes Information, Culture and Money (New York: Institute of Modern Russia, 2014), http://www.interpretermag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/The Menace _of_Un- reality Final.pdf. 5. Ibid. 6. “From Burning Hearts to Civil Unions: The Unlikely Evolution of Dmitry Kiselyov,” Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, June 30, 2015, http://www.rferl.org/a/dmitry-kiselyov-civil-unions-lgbt-unlikely-evolution/27102541.html; Joshua Yaffa, “Dmitry Kiselev Is Redefin- ing the Art of Russian Propaganda,” New Republic, July 1, 2014, https://newrepublic.com/article/118438/dmitry-kiselev-putins-fa- vorite-tv-host-russias-top-propogandist. 20 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019254