Many Americans were surprised when NBA officials went into meltdown mode last year after China reprimanded them over a team’s general manager expressing support for protesters in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong residents were upset about moves to bring the formerly free-enterprise British colony under strict control of the repressive communist state.

And America’s national media seemed to be in China’s corner.

There were promises about Hong Kong remaining self-governing for 50 years under the terms of England’s departure, if we remember correctly. But what’s a little broken promise if you’re a communist dictator?

Then came the Chinese coronavirus pandemic and American mainstream media began parroting the Chinese party line – pretty much like they were the China Daily.

It would appear that China has some powerful influence on America’s major media.

Mainstream Media’s Strange Response

While some had written off the strange response by American mainstream media as Trump Derangement Syndrome, a mental condition that has driven the media herd bat-soup crazy. They automatically oppose everything the president is for.

(But wait. Now the people in the know are saying that the coronavirus is an escapee from the Wuhan China, virology laboratory rather from a bat at a Wuhan “wet market.” Also, that the U.S. government had warned China of lax practices at the lab before the disease made its way into the human population.)

Now it appears that the disease may be part of the “Chinese Solution,” an organized effort by China to manage the media – and entertainment industry – to undermine U.S. elements of national power.

Darren E. Tromblay, writing in Small Wars Journal and starting with a headline that reads “No more fun and games: How China’s acquisition of U.S. media entities threatens America’s national security,” says Chinese companies (meaning the government) have made a variety of acquisitions in the U.S. that it can leverage to influence decision making,

Under a subhead “Going Hollywood” he reports that China has made a big push into the U.S. movie production and distribution sector, which it can use to diminish the impact of films it deems objectionable to Beijing’s interests.

Chinese Own Largest Theater Group

The Chinese company Dalian Wanda purchased the AMC theater chain in 2011 and Carmike Cinema in 2016. These two chains represent the largest theater group in the U.S.

He quotes Wang Jianlin, a Peoples Liberation Army veteran and the founder of Dalian Wanda, saying “more Chinese films should be in AMC where possible.”

It will be interesting to see if there are any future movies about Tibet and if AMC theaters will be allowed to show them.

China is showing interest also in buying U.S. film production companies whose technology, one could reasonably expect, would be quickly shipped to China.

Tromblay says Hollywood’s output has been a soft-power U.S. asset for decades and that if China is able to shape norms by creating support for a “China solution” it can achieve its geopolitical objectives with a minimum of saber-rattling.

There is much more in the article and we would recommend anyone check it out on the Internet.

Larry O’Conner, writing in Townhall.com also has a piece recently entitled “Can We Talk About American Media’s Connections to Chinese Interests?

He quotes a column by Jim Geraghty in National Review listing the history of the coronavirus pandemic and decisions that could have lessened the severity of the outbreak – with more Chinese honesty on the disease.

O‘Conner wrote:

This is fantastic work by Jim, but why is he the one who put this together? Jim’s one of the best, don’t get me wrong, but he, like so many of us, works for a scrappy media outlet with limited resources. I mean, there are huge media companies in this country covering this story who have resources and reporters all around the world at their fingertips to assemble this data.

“Why didn’t NBC News do this reporting? Or ABC News? Or CNN?” O’Conner asks.

He then adds:

“Every single major broadcast and cable news outlet covering the COVID-19 pandemic has a direct and critical interest in pleasing the communist regime in China. Every single one of them. To understand this critically important connection between these American news outlets and the Chinese government, you only need to understand the power of the Chinese market when it comes to the film industry.

“It’s not breaking news that the Chinese market is the single most important region for growth and revenue for Hollywood. The profitability for many films these days is almost entirely dependent on ticket sales in China. If a major film doesn’t sell in China, it’s a problem for the studio. And films are only allowed to be shown in China if the communists in Beijing give permission. That’s the beauty of a totalitarian, communist state. Nobody in the country sees ‘Avengers: End Game’ unless the authoritarians are accommodated.

Hollywood Affected

“This directly affects how Hollywood makes its movies.

Much has been written about the growing influence the Chinese censors have on the product coming out of Hollywood. Both conservative and liberal news outlets have lamented this growing trend. The influence of Chinese censors is often depicted in amusing anecdotes like an NPR feature explaining how a Tom Cruise blockbuster was modified to assuage the communist propagandists.”

O’Conner reports:

“- CBS News is part of a conglomerate of media and entertainment companies called National Amusements. The companies under their control include Viacom and Paramount Pictures.

“- NBC News/MSNBC is part of Universal and Comcast.

“- CNN is part of AT&T Time Warner, which owns Warner Brothers.

“- ABC News is owned by Disney, which owns, well, pretty much everything else coming out of Hollywood.

Not Angering Beijing

Beyond the direct concerns of the film producing and distribution arms of these major corporations, they also have other direct interests in not ticking off the Beijing communists. These companies also own theme parks, cellular telephone networks, cable networks, movie theaters and much more.

“All of their movies and theme parks sell toys and clothing which are manufactured in China. Cell phones and infrastructure equipment are manufactured in China. Cable boxes and broadband devices are manufactured in China.

“Angering the Chinese government is just bad for business for these companies.

“Are we to believe that the CEOs of these companies pick up the phone and direct how stories are to be reported? No, of course not. Spare us the straw man arguments here.

“But to suggest that these companies are not aware that their product is viewed, scrutinized and judged by the government of China and there is an incredibly well-documented history of certain accommodations made to placate the Beijing propagandists is dangerously naive.

Journalistic Integrity?

Would journalists, producers, and network executives bow to the will of the Chinese government in how they report on the facts surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic? I mean, wouldn’t their journalistic integrity and liberal ideals win out over these crass commercial considerations? After all, they are professional journalists with progressive ideals. The truth will always win out over powerful pressure from their connected, well-funded corporation, right?”

It’s Very Revealing

The coronavirus pandemic has been highly revealing on many fronts.

Whether our country returns to what it was remains to be seen.

America has been warned. China has aims on world domination.

China represents the type world the elite wants to drive us to.

It’s clear why President Trump calls major media’s production “fake news.”