1 Visualizing Geopolitics in Modern Colonialism Era: Man’ei, Li Xianglan and Continental Goodwill Films, 1937–1945 Xu Meimei 1. Introduction According to Manshū kaihatsu 40-nenshi, modern colonialism features industrial capital and the model is therefore “the capital follows the flag.” It differs essentially from the early trade colonialism, in which “the flag follows the trade.” Consequently, in new colonialism, colonies or protectorates become an investment and export market for their protectors (MANSHIKAI 1987: 69). Japan’s annexation of Taiwan in 1895 after defeating late Qing China in first Sino- Japanese War marks the beginning of the Japanese colonial empire. Through the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), Japan rapidly increased its force in Northeast Chi- na and Korea. In the year 1931, Japan staged the Manchurian Incident and helped found Manchukuo on March 1, 1932. After five years’ political, capital, military and ideological preparations, Japan staged the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, start- ing a full-scale war with the Republic of China. Northern China and areas around Shanghai and Nanjing fell to Japanese control shortly thereafter. From a geopolitical viewpoint, at this point Japan has laid a solid foundation for the Greater East Asia Co- prosperity Sphere. To reach the final victory, an effective propaganda tool is indis- pensable. As the most popular mass media at that time, cinema is therefore a logical choice. On August 14, 1937, the government of Manchukuo and the South Manchu- rian Railway Company cofounded the fifty-fifty joint venture—Manchukuo Film As- sociation Ltd. (Man’ei)—in Hsingking 新京 (Changchun), the newly designated capi- tal of Manchukuo. The preparatory stage of Man’ei (1932–1937) was closely tied to the Japanese Kwantung Army and the Manchurian police force. This fact indicates that, from the starting point, Man’ei is a system of film-related institutions, serving the national policy and functioning as a front base for Japanese capital, military and cultural expansions. As a crude emulation of Japanese film concerns, Man’ei inherit- ed two general characteristics of Japan’s domestic film industry: the centralized management and the golden age of sound. Along with rapid external military expan- sions, Japan became isolated in the international community. To eliminate dissidents, Japanese government issued a strict Film Law to strengthen its control over the film industry and consolidated all active film companies into three concerns (Toho, Shochiku and Dai’ei). Man’ei in its infancy (1937–1939) was operated in a similar way. Its primary task, instead of making quality films, was to reorganize and monopolize Manchurian film market. By 1939, Man’ei had completed vertical integration, re- garding film production, import/export, cinema chain, censorship and trade press. Man’ei not only copied Japan’s organizational institutions but also acquired equip- ment and human resources directly from Japanese film concerns. Among them,