Jiang Wen. (Photo : Getty Images)
In what might be called a rant of some sort, Chinese actor, screenwriter and director Jiang Wen said the U.S. Navy is directly responsible for the box office successes of Hollywood movies in China.
Now, this isn't the case unless Jiang still believes the U.S. is imposing its will on China using the "gunboat diplomacy" popular among western imperialists in the 19th century. And his view begs the question as to what the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is for.
Or maybe it's because his father was a PLA soldier who fought the Americans in the Korean War. Perhaps it's because of his language difficulties; he's not a native English speaker.
But whatever reason for this bizarre line of reasoning, Jiang is adamant they're factual.
Jiang claims Hollywood is an expression of American "soft power," which is power that influences in comparison to hard or military power, which is power that destroys.
Hailed as China's best-known international actor, Jiang again scored a first by becoming the first person of Chinese descent to star in a Star Wars movie.
He plays the role of Baze Malbus in the newest movie of the Star Wars saga, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which hit theaters in December 2016. Rogue One is Jiang's first English-language role.
And his views on why Hollywood is bigger than Chinese movies in China is, well, different from the mainstream.
"We need to move slowly, first develop our aircraft carriers," he pointed out.
"When we have double the aircraft carriers of the United States, then we can discuss everything."
"It doesn't matter if the U.S. makes crappy movies, the whole world still accepts them, because it has aircraft carriers standing behind them, (intellectual property) has absolutely no use."
The U.S. Navy currently has 10 Nimitiz-class supercarriers, the most powerful surface warships in the world.
The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has only one operational carrier -- the CNS Liaoning -- it describes as a "training carrier" unfit for combat against the Americans. The Liaoning only carries around 25 combat jets.
PLAN, however, has no intention of building 20 nuclear powered supercarriers, as Jiang wants. China doesn't have the money or technology to do so. So, it's current goal is to build only three aircraft carriers.
And besides, China's strategy for confronting the U.S. Navy is not to confront it at all in a World War II-type naval battle over long distances. China prefers to fight in the South China Sea where its anti-ship ballistic missiles can be used against the American carriers.
