Will China soon control American movies?

The Washington Post reports:

It may surprise most Americans to know that more than 140 Tibetans — including many Buddhist monks and nuns — have set themselves aflame over the past five years to protest the growing abuses of their people. In most cases, these protesters died in an effort to raise global awareness of Beijing’s targeted oppression, which the Dalai Lama has called a “cultural genocide.”

Last month, The Post published an important and underreported story about the growing abuses against the Tibetan people by the Chinese government, including a Tibetan woman who was found hanged — possibly by police — and the brutal crackdown against her family and community when they challenged the authorities over the lack of an investigation of her death.

This article documented one of countless examples of Beijing’s ever-increasing oppression of its people — especially ethnic and religious minorities targeted for raising legitimate grievances and examples of human rights abuses. Yet the Chinese government, thanks to its extreme efforts to control reporting and speech within China, has been able to largely block coverage of this and similar cases domestically.

There is growing concern that Chinese government influence over Western media organizations will lead to direct censorship or pressure to self-censor content to Beijing’s liking. This concern will only grow due to a surge of Chinese investment in the United States. Over the past five years, Chinese investment here has grown from $2 billion per year to an estimated $20 billion this year. This growth is significant given that Chinese companies are effectively controlled — whether through state ownership or strict direction — by Beijing.

Hollywood's morals.