누가 유랑하는 지구를 구할 것인가? — 영화 《유랑지구》와 중국의 ‘인류운명공동체’ 이념

Abstract

The movie The Wandering Earth(流浪地球), which was released across China on Feb. 5, 2019, and set the second-highest-ever box office record following Wolf Warriors(戰狼)Ⅱ, not only became a huge hit in China, but also brought about a kind of cultural syndrome. Chinese media have claimed that the previous perception that successful SF films can only be made in Hollywood has been shattered by the success of The Wandering Earth. And they praised The Wandering Earth for paving the way for a Chinese-style SF, not a typical Hollywood SF. They said The Wandering Earth’s success was made possible by the addition of Chinese narratives to large-scale capital and high-tech, which are essential for SF films. But there are other reasons why The Wandering Earth has gained more attention than box office success in China. That’s because The Wandering Earth is a film that embodies the ideology of the “a community with a shared future for mankind(人類命運共同體)”, a key discourse of foreign policy pursued by the Xi Jinping regime. What is the “a community with a shared future for mankind” ideology and why has it emerged so important at this point? The “a community with a shared future for mankind” has emerged as a key ideology for discourse competition with the U.S. and has gained important strategic value as a justification and propaganda tool for carrying out the “The Belt and Road Initiative(一帶一路)” project. Taking a look at the process of establishing the “a community with a shared future for mankind” ideology as a core discourse of foreign policy and giving important strategic value by linking it with “The Belt and Road Initiative” after the 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress, we can see how China is trying to establish relations with the world and the U.S. and lead in what direction.