What the Oscars Say About China’s Struggle With Soft Power
Beijing's muffled coverage of Hollywood’s big night, as a mainland-born director won both top awards, was a missed opportunity.
No honor in her own country.
Photographer: Handout/A.M.P.A.S.In the struggle between winning hearts and minds and the need for control, Beijing missed a red carpet opportunity. China-born Chloe Zhao made history Sunday night by winning the Academy Awards for best picture and best director, becoming the first Asian woman to do so, with her quietly poignant movie about Americans pushed into itinerant lives, “Nomadland”.1 From the podium, she cited a classic Chinese text.
On paper, this year’s list of Oscar nominees should have cheered China, which has spent years craving artistic accolades and cultural plaudits to go with its military and economic might. That didn’t stop Beijing from giving the star-studded ceremony the cold shoulder. Local media were instructed to avoid live broadcasts and ordered to play down coverage of the awards. Hong Kong’s largest TV network didn’t screen Hollywood’s big night either — for the first time in half a century.