For over a decade, China has become increasingly aggressive on the world stage. It has clashed with neighbors on fishing rights. Its military has attempted to build man-made islands and then turn them into “unsinkable carriers.” It has used economic power to take control of key industries in both neighboring and far-flung countries.
And, as they’ve done so, their film industry has released a series of movies, often to massive ticket sales and rave reviews, that sell the idea of an aggressive, world-leading China to the Chinese people. Now, the nickname for modern Chinese foreign policy comes from one of those blockbuster movie franchises, and scholars say that it and similar movies might be inextricably linked with aggressive foreign policy.
It would be like if we renamed our own foreign policies “Top Gun” diplomacy and all our diplomats slapped “Maverick” stickers on their laptops.
“Wolf Warrior” Films
The movie “Wolf Warrior” came out in 2015. If you haven’t seen it, it’s available on Pluto TV with English subtitles covering most of the action (and thank god for the subtitles, because I understand Chinese like Omar speaks Italian). The action scenes are about as believable as a Jackie Chan movie, but a lot of the cinematography is legitimately awesome.
Seriously, it opens with a massive fight at an old industrial complex where dozens of soldiers clash with criminals amidst explosion after explosion. But then the assault is terminated because no one brought weapons strong enough to penetrate the walls, since high-caliber weapons would be dangerous (more dangerous than multiple hand grenades?).
The point is that it’s fun to watch with your brain off.
And it also hypes the idea of constant, militarized foreign interventions by China around the world – again, if your brain is off.
The movie got rave reviews in China, which is odd. Chinese audiences, like their diplomats, have historically preferred classic Chinese tales or war movies in which China defended itself against foreign aggression, typically against Japan during World War II. Scroll the list of movies with the highest ticket sales in China, and you’ll find most of them were made in the 1980s or earlier, and few of them are boisterous, Western-style action movies.
But “Wolf Warrior” was a massive commercial success. And its sequel, “Wolf Warrior 2,” was the highest-grossing film in Chinese history from its debut in 2017 until 2021, and it still holds the all-time number three spot. The number two highest-grossing film is “The Battle at Lake Changjin,” a 2021 fictionalized retelling of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, in which China counter-invaded the U.S. and re-established communist control over North Korea.
Not exactly a classic or peaceful.
Wolf Warrior Diplomacy
As Chinese cinema has made the turn toward aggressive, Western-style interventionism, so has its diplomacy. The tie is so strong that some scholars of Chinese culture specifically point to China’s foreign policy as the cause of a cultural shift in its people and cinema.
Meanwhile, Chinese diplomacy experts have used the movie title “Wolf Warrior” as a descriptor for the new diplomatic stance.
Xiao Yang, a researcher in Australia, wrote in The China Quarterly an article that:
“…argues that the Belt and Road Initiative, one of the state’s prominent foreign policies and global strategies in this period, played a crucial role in shaping the production of the wolf warrior cycle films under a trend of the politicization of commercial blockbusters in the Chinese film industry. In turn, these films contributed to the formation of the “wolf warrior diplomacy” image by reinforcing the proactiveness of China’s diplomacy and nationalistic stereotypes in Chinese society towards international relations.”
Yang is most focused on four movies, “Wolf Warrior,” “Operation Mekong,” “Wolf Warrior 2,” and “Operation Red Sea.” Each of them promotes the idea of Chinese interventionism, especially in the Middle East and Africa, where a major branch of China’s Belt and Road Initiative passes.
China’s Belt and Road
Yup, we should talk about how these movies interact with the Belt and Road Initiative. The Belt and Road is an absolutely massive infrastructure investment plan that started in 2013 and is expected to continue through 2049. It has seen China spend billions on trade networks connecting 140 countries and 75 percent of the world population.
The initial phases have gone well for China. China structured much of the assistance as loan packages to other governments, and it has been able to recoup costs through either payments or by seizing major assets funded through the program. Through deals tied to Belt and Road funding, China now has liens or partial ownership of ports or port infrastructure in over 120 countries, including two entrances to the Panama Canal.
Even where China receives no direct payment or control through the initiative, it still benefits them through trade and diplomacy. The roads, ports, railroads, and other infrastructure all tie back to China, increasing the country’s importance as a trading partner for recipients. And it’s hard for a country to go against China diplomatically when Chinese experts with Chinese funds are actively building infrastructure in their countries.
Should you watch the “Wolf Warrior” movies?
The “Wolf Warrior” movies are fun, if a little brain-dead. It’s honestly like watching a “Fast and Furious” movie if you had to read subtitles the whole time.
But while the rise of the movies parallels changes in Chinese foreign policy, especially in how they call for rising Chinese clout in the Belt and Road Era, they don’t, themselves, provide any special insight into how China will act going forward. It’s not like Chinese diplomats watch the movies and take notes on how to spin-kick their Western counterparts in their next meeting.
So they’re fun movies, but you won’t get any smarter from watching them.
Watch them if you’re curious, but, to stay informed, just assume that you’ll keep seeing an aggressive China going forward. Maybe imagine some Chinese flags instead next time you watch “Top Gun.” That’s basically the experience of Chinese moviegoers right now.
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