‘Chinese propaganda’ film company goes bust over $6m Val Morgan debt
A company which advertised “Chinese propaganda” and socialism before children’s movies at Sydney cinemas has folded owing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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A company which advertised “Chinese propaganda” and socialism before children’s movies at Sydney cinemas has folded owing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It can be revealed that Chinese film distribution company Tangren was put into liquidation after falling behind on its $6.75 million contract with Val Morgan Cinema.
The deal had given Tangren the rights to run its advertisements before Chinese-language films at Val Morgan’s Sydney cinemas in George St, Burwood and Broadway.
“Tangren would have exclusivity on Chinese and East Asian Distribution category,” the contract said.
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In January, The Daily Telegraph revealed Tangren’s bizarre ads were promoting “socialism with Chinese characteristics” and were aimed at increasing China’s “soft power’’ over Australia. The ads were played before movies including the sequel to children’s film How To Train Your Dragon.
Three months later Val Morgan wrote to Tangren advising “we have suspended all advertising” because of unpaid accounts.
In June, the cinema giant took Tangren to court chasing a $734,000 debt after two invoices were not paid.
Later that month liquidators were appointed by the court to act for Tangren.
In an affidavit filed in the Federal Court, Val Morgan’s general manager Blake Munting said the company issued a demand for payment in February.
“Despite demands for payment of debt … (Tangren) has failed to pay the full amount of debt,” the affidavit, signed in May, said.
A spokesman for Val Morgan last night declined to comment.
Val Morgan is Australia and New Zealand’s leading national supplier of screen advertising with a network of over 2000 cinema screens … “(that) provides advertisers access to a sought-after audience in a high-impact environment”.
It is a subsidiary of Wanda Group, which is a Chinese multinational company that was the initial developer behind Sydney’s One Circular development before it sold the project last year.
One of Australia’s leading China experts has previously told The Daily Telegraph the ad Tangren had been playing in Val Morgan cinemas earlier this year was part of China’s worldwide self-marketing strategy dubbed the “Grand External Propaganda”.
“The task is to tell the story along the party lines and (control the) narrative around China that will project the right image to the world,” University of Technology Sydney associate professor Chongyi Feng said.
Tangren’s website says it distributes two thirds of all the Chinese and Korean films shown in Australia and New Zealand.
When The Daily Telegraph asked Tangren owner Jiayin Yuan earlier this year if the company was financially supported by the Chinese government she directed the questions to the director Li Tongliang who did not respond.
The matter will return to court for a hearing next week.
Originally published as ‘Chinese propaganda’ film company goes bust over $6m Val Morgan debt
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