A day after the United States announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on Dec. 6, the Chinese communist regime condemned it and said the United States will “pay a price” for it. Later, it was reported that the release date of the American film “Spider-Man: No Way Home” in China, which was supposed to be set this week, remains undecided indefinitely.
According to major mainland Chinese news portals such as “sohu” and “163,” the China Movie Report, which is a program under the Chinese state-run media network CCTV, has reported on social media three new posters of the 2021 Spider-Man movie, but said the release date of the movie in mainland China is “waiting to be decided.”
The articles on the news portal are concerned that the movie will suffer the same fate as Marvel’s “Black Widow” movie in China. It was said the Marvel movie passed China’s censorship, and the official Marvel site even sent exclusive greetings to its Chinese fans. However, due to the epidemic, the release date of Black Widow in China kept changing and has not been decided. The movie has never been screened in mainland China.
A widely circulated post on Chinese social media Weibo by “I, grass heroine” on Dec. 12 said that all imported films from the United States have been suspended, except for those whose release dates have already been set. “Originally, Spider-Man’s mainland China release date was supposed to be announced at 10 a.m. today [Dec.8], and then because the United States boycotted the Winter Olympics, the news of suspension was heard at 8:50 a.m. After 9 a.m., Spider-Man’s official Weibo posted twice that they have not received such official notice. However, at 9:57, the notice of suspension of American movies was officially sent.” Some also said that it basically means that the new Spider-Man movie won’t be screened in China.
Hubei current affairs commentator Zhao Ning told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that China’s countermeasures against the United States are expected, just like the previous boycott of South Korean investment in China and celebrities. “The United States takes the lead in joining several other countries to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics. It will definitely have a certain impact on the Winter Olympics. China will definitely retaliate,” he said.
Chinese current affairs commentator Wang Zheng believes that China’s retaliation against the United States’ diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics by banning American films will deprive Chinese people of their right to watch American films. “The countries have adopted a diplomatic boycott, which will not harm the Chinese people. China’s countermeasures are often to kidnap 1.4 billion Chinese people to retaliate against other countries, such as boycotting American TV shows, and later boycotts of the NBA and American sports brands. They use 1.4 billion people to retaliate.”
