....one way we know this: they went after Hollywood!
China announced it would curb imports of Hollywood films, opening a new front in its trade war with the US hours after President Donald Trump’s record tariffs took effect.
Authorities vowed on Thursday to “moderately reduce” the number of US movies allowed into the world’s second-largest economy — a step floated earlier this week as a possible retaliation measure by two influential Chinese bloggers.
“The wrong action of the US government to abuse tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favorability toward American films,” the China Film Administration said in a statement announcing the move. (HotAir via. Bloomberg News)
I'm sure Trump is shaking in his boots...from laughter, most likely.
If China thinks this is leverage over Trump they're even more deluded than once thought. Most of Hollywood hates Donald Trump and he's not losing sleep if they suffer over this as it would mean fewer resources to use against him down the road.
Its' also self-defeating on Beijing's part as Hollywood has long kissed their ass - I can think of four examples where Chinese authorities actively interfered in movie-making (the 2012 remake of Red Dawn, Top Gun: Maverick, The Departed, and 2012) because either the films made Beijing the villain and/or didn't show China in a positive light. (The Departed gets included here because Chinese customs don't allow for villainous characters to get away with crimes; in the movie its' based off, Infernal Affairs, the villain eventually gets arrested and in the original version, Matt Damon's character got away with everything. In the theatrical release, he got a bullet to the noggin from Mark Wahlberg's characters at the end of the film).
The only thing that would make this threat better - for the U.S. - is if Trump's DoJ opened investigations into whether Hollywood film studios colluded with China over access to the Chinese markets.
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