Hong Kong's Status

Dongcheng District, Beixinqiao Santiao. Both the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office were located here. As it happened, this was Chen Qi's first time visiting the place. He entered the compound and was led into a room. After waiting a short while, a chubby, genial old man walked in with a beaming smile. Liao Gong had a childhood nickname, "Fei Zai"—Fat Boy—and in his later years he had grown even portlier. The senior leader Chen Qi had met in Zhongnanhai was particularly fond of calling him by that nickname. "Xiao Chen, what have you been up to lately?" "Don't laugh, sir, but I haven't been doing anything at all. Just resting." "Haha, resting is good too. Good health is the capital of revolution! Trouble found you the very day you returned from Berlin; you probably haven't even adjusted to the jet lag yet..." Liao Gong habitually reached for a cigarette, only to find he didn't have a single one left. He withdrew his hand in mild frustration. This was also his first one-on-one conversation with Chen Qi. He found the young man handsome, talented, and possessed of broad vision—he just had a fiery temper. Then again, what kind of young person had no temper? Back when they were young, they had done plenty of hotheaded things. In the past few days, before officially convening a meeting to deliberate the matter, Liao Gong had questioned the cultural departments, the Film Bureau, China Film, and Wang Yang respectively, gaining a concrete understanding of the current film industry. Calling Chen Qi over today was also for questioning. "You said quite a lot that day. Today, let's shut the door and have a private chat. "I've spoken to many people. Every one of them spoke strictly from their own perspective—either crying foul on their own behalf or accusing others of holding a monopoly. But at the end of the day, it all points to a single problem: our domestic film system has numerous hidden hazards. I want to hear your thoughts." "Uh, do you want me to speak bluntly?" "Of course! Say whatever is on your mind!" "All right then... In my view, while the film system has many hidden hazards, talking about reform right now is like treating an illness with guasha—it only scratches the surface and can't go deep." "Oh? Now that's a novel way to put it," Liao Gong said with a chuckle. "Take the distribution rights they're fighting over. On the surface, it's a battle between the studios and China Film. But who is actually reaping the spoils and making a quiet fortune? It's the local film companies at all levels. "China Film earns a distribution fee at most, but the local film companies pocket the actual box office. "They treat their respective provinces, cities, and counties as private fiefdoms. Inter-regional barriers are severe; they guard their turf like fortresses and refuse to share anything. "We don't have large, nationwide theater chains. We don't have a strict regulatory oversight system. We lack a scientific, rational ticketing model and box-office accounting. Whatever amount a film earns, they report whatever they feel like, and there's no way to audit them. "So I think the real challenge isn't merely breaking China Film's monopoly on distribution; it's breaking the local film companies' monopoly on the market. That's a system with five hundred thousand workers. If anyone tries to touch their cake, they'll fight with their lives. "Put it this way: even if you handed me the domestic distribution rights right now and told me to implement box-office revenue sharing, I wouldn't do it. The conditions simply aren't there!" In the 1980s, the country didn't even have a proper box-office tracking system. The numbers were all vague approximations; damn well no one knew how much a movie actually pulled in. Everyone claimed that *The Shaolin Temple* had crossed a hundred million, but in truth, there was zero hard evidence. That was why Chen Qi had never joined Wang Yang and the other studio heads in making trouble for China Film. That was the limitation of their era. Even if they really won their fight and the studios were granted distribution rights, in less than two years they would have to slink back and surrender that power. Because they would soon realize that dealing with the local film companies was far worse than dealing with China Film... So when could a thorough reform truly take place? In the mid-1990s, when domestic box-office returns sank straight into the mud, cinemas went bankrupt in droves, and local film companies couldn't even pay salaries—that was when reform would be possible. Reform could not happen overnight, nor was Chen Qi's target domestic distribution. Liao Gong pondered in silence for a good while. Having reached the same realization, he asked, "So your sights are set overseas?" "Exactly!" "You want to develop your career in Hong Kong?" "It's not quite about developing a career; the issue is much more complex..." Chen Qi paused, then spoke seriously: "Hong Kong cinema is more advanced than the mainland's—that's an objective reality. But we cannot blindly chase after them just because they are more advanced. "Their entertainment culture is certainly richer than ours, but we must never let them place themselves above the mainland. Whether in terms of resources, cultural depth, or talent reserves, they actually don't possess the prerequisites. The boom in their entertainment industry was largely coincidental. "Our goal is not to help Hong Kong develop its film and television industry; our goal is to leverage Hong Kong to develop our own. "If you ask for my personal opinion, I believe we must strengthen cooperation with the left-wing studios, create a more relaxed creative environment, grant convenience for travel and transit, and provide supportive policies for overseas distribution, thereby giving filmmakers from both places room to show what they can do. "We need to treat Hong Kong as our experimental testing ground—a platform to earn commercial box-office revenue and expand our influence, an international transit hub, and a conduit for cultural export. To go overseas and earn US dollars! "External first, internal second—use external forces to drive domestic change, with the aim of achieving genuine reform as soon as possible!" "..." Liao Gong raised an eyebrow and looked this young man up and down once more. He detected an intense aggressiveness in him, both inwardly and outwardly directed. At first he had assumed Chen Qi was siding with Beijing Film Studio, but now he realized the kid wanted to overhaul even Beijing Film Studio. He understood Chen Qi's meaning. Utterly audacious! Yet Liao Gong actually chuckled. When it came to reform trial programs, boldness was not something to fear; what was truly feared was shrinking back in hesitation. Otherwise, what was the point of a pilot project? The domestic film system was a massive ship that couldn't easily turn around; pulling one hair would affect the whole body. But Chen Qi was just one person. They could easily carve out an opening for him and see what he could produce. That was what handling special cases with special measures was all about! Of course, he couldn't promise anything on the spot; the exact regulations would require further study. He smiled and said, "It seems we older folks really do need to chat with you youngsters more often. Your perspectives are very interesting. Well, let's call it a day..." With that, Liao Gong arranged a car to personally drive Chen Qi back. In the car, Chen Qi reflected on the meeting. He had said everything he needed to say. Carving an opening in the film system was an insurmountable hurdle for ordinary people, but for the top leadership, it was a trivial matter. It all depended on what form it would take in practice. ... The next day. A conference room at the Ministry of Culture. Five entities gathered: the Ministry of Culture, the Film Bureau, China Film, Beijing Film Studio, and the municipal Foreign Affairs Office. Liao Gong attended in person on behalf of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, serving as the mediator. An occasion like this required a respected, heavyweight elder statesman to preside over it. "Liao Gong!" "Liao Gong!" "Good, good. I invited everyone here for a meeting today, and I'm sure you all know what it's about. If there are other matters, you can discuss them first. Once you're finished, I will speak." "..." Silence fell for several seconds before the China Film representative spoke up. It was no longer Song Linming; a different person had replaced him. He said, "I have visited Beijing Film Studio several times, but was turned away at the door every time. "According to standard practice, *Tai Chi* should be submitted to China Film, and China Film should organize preview screenings to sell film prints to provincial film companies. Past friction is behind us, and today we won't get into whether rules were broken. I only wish to speak with Director Wang about the domestic distribution of *Tai Chi*." "Then of course it should be distributed by us! You made a total mess of things overseas; who knows what kind of mess you'll make domestically?" Wang Yang had once again plunged headlong into the struggle against China Film, visibly energized, because domestic distribution rights were what he had been fighting for all along. This time, however, the China Film representative did not lose his temper or start a shouting match. They had realized that their face and dignity had already been stripped bare; what remained was nothing less than the company's very survival. That was a matter of supreme gravity. When people were backed into a corner, they could become desperate enough to do anything. The representative slowly pulled an envelope from his pocket and set it on the table. "This is a joint petition signed by all our employees. "China Film is a distribution company. We acknowledge the mistakes we made. But if our distribution rights are taken away as well, there is no longer any reason for China Film to exist. We might as well petition the central leadership ourselves and ask them to abolish China Film altogether!"