Why Beijing shelved its Taiwan war blockbuster

(Edited and refined by Candice Chan, with the assistance of AI translation.)

Historical war epic Peng Hu (《澎湖海战》, or The Belief), originally scheduled for release on 25 July, has reportedly again been pulled from cinemas at the last minute. While some cinemas are still promoting the film on social media, a cinema manager told this reporter that they have yet to receive any distribution notice. A search of the Chinese National Film Administration’s public information shows only that the film was approved for production, with no public screening permit on record.

Produced at a cost of 500 million RMB (US$74 million) and promoted as the best mainland Chinese war epic since The Battle at Lake Changjin (《长津湖》), with box office earnings expected at 6 billion RMB, Peng Hu has now found itself embarrassingly MIA — it is uncertain if it will reach cinemas in the end. Taiwan’s pro-independence Green camp has mocked the derailment of this mainland “military reunification blockbuster”, saying Beijing missed its chance to advance its Taiwan agenda.

A choppy ride

It is not without reason that Taiwan media have dubbed Peng Hu a “military reunification blockbuster”. The film follows Admiral Shi Lang’s defeat of the Ming loyalist fleet at the Battle of Penghu in 1683, paving the way for Taiwan’s incorporation into the Qing dynasty under the Kangxi Emperor.

Its political messaging was evident from the outset. On 25 October last year — the first year mainland China officially designated the date as Taiwan Retrocession Day — the film’s first trailer premiered on CCTV. It opens with the imperial command: “Shi Lang, by imperial command, you are to lead the navy, seize Penghu and capture Taiwan,” before ending with the slogan: “The reunification of Taiwan cannot be stopped.”

To recreate Qing-era naval warfare with maximum historical authenticity and spectacle, the production team reportedly built replicas of 50 ancient warships. Directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Soi Cheang and starring Jackson Yee and Wang Xueqi, Peng Hu was conceived as both a patriotic epic and a commercial blockbuster.

Instead, its journey to the big screen has been anything but smooth.

The first headwind arrived before Peng Hu even reached cinemas. Its trailer debuted just as the online “mourning the Ming dynasty” (悼明风) movement was gaining momentum. Many mainland netizens see the Ming, which fell in 1644, as the last Han-ruled Chinese dynasty, and view its conquest by the Manchu-led Qing as a civilisational rupture and a national humiliation. Against this backdrop, Peng Hu struck a nerve. Supporters of this “1644 historical narrative” denounced the film for glorifying Shi Lang — whom they regard as a "Han traitor" — and celebrating his role in crushing the Ming's last loyalist forces. The outcry spread rapidly across social media, prompting platforms such as Douban to take the unusual step of disabling public ratings and comments for the film.

Speculation and guesswork

The film was later widely expected to debut during the Lunar New Year box office season in February, only to be pulled at the last minute without explanation. Some attributed the delay to the fierce online backlash, while others saw it as a sign of a shift in Beijing’s Taiwan policy.

At a Taiwan Work Conference in February 2025, Politburo Standing Committee member and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CCPCC) chairman Wang Huning introduced the phrase “shaping the inevitable trend towards national reunification”. However, that phrase was absent from this year’s conference.

Some analysts saw the change as a sign that Beijing had shifted its Taiwan policy towards "safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait", the formulation adopted at this year's session. Against that backdrop, Peng Hu hit a wall, with its release pushed back until the summer.

Now that the film has been halted again, was it because of public opposition? Was Beijing’s leadership concerned that it might ignite fresh ideological divisions associated with the “mourning the Ming” movement? Was the film not in line with the stand Beijing wishes to project with regard to Taiwan?

Looking at China’s major historical-themed productions in recent years, central state media or government agencies have often been directly involved. The Battle at Lake Changjin, for example, was commissioned by the CCP’s Central Propaganda Department and jointly produced under the organisation of the Beijing Municipal Committee Publicity Department. By contrast, while Peng Hu touches on the highly sensitive issue of “military reunification” and involves assessments of historical figures, there is no indication that it was commissioned by any official agency.

Historical facts vs official narrative

Historical records show that Shi Lang defected to the Qing dynasty in his early years, but later joined Zheng Chenggong’s anti-Qing forces. However, after falling out with Zheng, he defected back to the Qing dynasty, and even secretly discussed returning Taiwan to the Dutch, making him an extremely controversial historical figure.

On the other hand, in the official mainland narrative, Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) is the one who expelled the Dutch colonialists and recovered the motherland’s treasured island Taiwan, a national hero admired on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. In 2022, commemorative events were held across Fujian to mark the 360th anniversary of Zheng’s recovery of Taiwan. The characterisation of historical figures in Peng Hu does not fit Beijing’s long-established official narrative.

Moreover, history presents another sensitivity. It was Shi Lang who persuaded Emperor Kangxi to retain and govern Taiwan. Any on-screen portrayal of their exchanges would inevitably invite contemporary political readings. Peng Hu may have ventured into politically sensitive territory — and real-world parallels — without fully appreciating the risks.

Peaceful reunification?

For a clearer indication of Beijing’s current thinking on cross-strait relations, a more telling reference is Swords Into Plowshares (《太平年》), the hit 50-episode historical drama produced by CCTV that aired earlier this year.

The series recounts how Qian Hongchu, ruler of the Wuyue Kingdom, chose to surrender his realm rather than plunge his people into war as the Northern Song army closed in, bringing an end to the conflict through peaceful unification. The allegory to cross-strait relations is unmistakable, with a strong undertone of propaganda and psychological messaging. Yet its central message is equally clear: Beijing’s preferred path is peaceful reunification and the avoidance of war, not military conquest.

The fact that Peng Hu has twice been pulled shows Beijing’s caution over the Taiwan issue becoming overly politicised and hijacked by populist nationalism, and “low-level patriotism” (低级红). Decisively pulling the film is to prevent the international community from mistakenly thinking that Beijing is eager for war, while simultaneously conveying a message of peace. But do others see it?

The fact is, Beijing has never needed to promote military reunification, because calls to use force are loud enough among the mainland Chinese. What Beijing wants is to maintain firm control over the narrative on Taiwan.

Increasingly, however, mainland social media platforms and commercial film productions are monetising nationalist sentiment and turning patriotism into a business — but they have to be careful that it backfires.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “《澎湖海战》撤档发出的信息”.

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