Bannon to release anti-Huawei film ‘Claws of the Red Dragon’

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon will release a new film this fall titled “Claws of the Red Dragon,” which will go after Chinese telecom giant Huawei, a company which President Trump has deemed “a national security threat.” 

“Run by a radical cadre of the Chinese Communist Party, China’s Communism today is the greatest existential threat the West has ever faced,” Bannon, the executive producer for the film, said in a press release. “Huawei, the technology and telecommunications arm of the CCP and the People’s Liberation Army, is the greatest national security threat we have ever faced, as it is already in the process of a global tech domination via 5G and 6G.”{mosads}

“Claws of the Red Dragon is a seminal and timely work exposing the inner workings of the CCP and Huawei,” he added.

The film comes as the Trump administration moves to crack down on Huawei. The U.S. intelligence community has called the company a national security threat, highlighting what they say are close ties to the government in Beijing. Huawei has denied those claims. 

The administration has banned Huawei from doing business with federal agencies. But Trump officials on Monday also extended a deadline for U.S. businesses to cut ties with Huawei. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said U.S. telecom companies would get another 90 day extension.

“Some of the rural companies are dependent on Huawei. So we’re giving them a little more time to wean themselves off,” Ross said on Fox Business. “But there are no specific licenses being granted for anything.”

Trump has at times sent conflicting signals on Huawei, suggesting that the U.S. could strike a deal over the company as part of larger trade talks with China.

That trade war is deepening, with China indicating on Friday that it would slap new reciprocal tariffs on $75 billion worth of American auto parts and other goods.  

Trump vowed to respond in a series of tweets.

“The vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must STOP. Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing … your companies HOME and making your products in the USA,” Trump tweeted.

“I will be responding to China’s Tariffs this afternoon. This is a GREAT opportunity for the United States,” he added. 

Bannon has long called for a tougher stance on China.

In a May 6 op-ed for The Washington Post, Bannon wrote that the country “has been waging economic war against industrial democracies ever since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.”

“[N]ow China has emerged as the greatest economic and national security threat the United States has ever faced,” he added.

Bannon, 65, has produced several films, including 2010’s “Battle for America” that covered the rise of the Tea Party movement, 2011’s “The Undefeated” that looked at the career of Sarah Palin and 2018’s “Trump @War.”