Why is a film calling for Taiwan reunification drawing fire in mainland China?
Despite having official backing, the movie about a 17th century battle has faced surprising backlash from online nationalists

“The Belief” has not made it to the big screen in mainland China, despite film posters advertising a July 25 release date.
Alcott Wei in Beijing

Published: 9:00am, 26 Jul 2026
Updated: 2:09pm, 26 Jul 2026

The future of a mainland Chinese film calling for reunification with Taiwan has been thrown into uncertainty as it faces a surprising backlash from nationalistic voices. The Belief tells the story of how in 1683, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing dynasty ordered Shi Lang, the admiral of the Fujian navy, to lead the Qing army to a major victory over the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan, which considered itself part of the then-overthrown Ming dynasty. The battle, known as the Battle of Penghu, ultimately brought Taiwan under the Qing dynasty’s rule. Promotional posters for the movie featured the slogan: “The reunification of Taiwan is unstoppable.”

The film’s theme – bringing a self-governed Taiwan under Beijing’s direct rule – would appear to align with Beijing’s current policy, and it was obvious from early on that the movie had official backing. Among the film’s co-producers is the propaganda department of Fujian’s provincial committee of the Communist Party, according to government websites.

State broadcaster CCTV released the first trailer for the film on October 25 last year, when the mainland celebrated the 80th anniversary of Taiwan’s restoration to Chinese rule following the Japanese occupation.

But things took a turn, and the film’s fate is now in limbo. The most recent trailer for the movie, released by the filmmakers in May, said the film was expected to open on Saturday, the anniversary of the beginning of the first Sino-Japanese war, which led the Qing to cede Taiwan to Japan in 1895. It did not make it to the screens as planned, with no clear explanation given by either the film production team or the authorities.

The South China Morning Post searched the list of public screening permits issued by the China Film Administration, and The Belief was not among them. The licence is a prerequisite for a film to be screened in mainland China. It is not known what exactly derailed the original plan for the film’s screening. However, the film has provoked fierce criticism and demands for a boycott from Han nationalists on social media in recent months. Members of this increasingly vocal group have typically supported Beijing’s call for reunification with Taiwan, so their attacks on the film have come as a surprise to many.

These nationalists idolise the Ming dynasty, which ruled from 1368 to 1644 and was China’s last dynasty governed by ethnic Han rulers. They regard the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, which overthrew the Ming, as an invading and colonial regime. Han nationalists have accused The Belief of glorifying what they see as an unjust war because of the nature of the Qing dynasty. “The Qing war against Taiwan was the destruction by a barbarian regime of the last cultural fortress and stronghold of Chinese civilisation and Han civilisation,” one critic wrote on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

The comment received more than 1,000 likes. “Although I support China’s reunification with Taiwan, I cannot accept this film glorifying a traitor to a Han regime – a traitor who helped barbarians destroy the Han homeland. This is a distortion of history,” another wrote. The critic was referring to Shi Lang, a general who had previously served under the Taiwan-based Ming loyalist regime but later defected to the Qing, leading it to victory in the Battle of Penghu. The two actors who played the main characters in the movie – both belonging to the Qing camp – also saw their social media accounts flooded with criticism from Han nationalists.

Han nationalists argue that “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” – a key political slogan on the mainland – is actually a call for the rejuvenation of the Han Chinese, despite Beijing’s official messaging that it encompasses all of China’s ethnic groups. They argue that the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644 marked the beginning of China’s decline. Their online voices grew so powerful that authorities in Zhejiang province publicly rebuked them in December.

In a public post, the propaganda department of Zhejiang’s provincial party committee said that describing the Manchu conquest and the fall of the Ming dynasty as “an interruption of Chinese civilisation” was misleading and risked sliding into narrow, Han-centric nationalism. The ruling Communist Party of China views itself as the successor to both the Ming and Qing dynasties, including their rule in the autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Tibet. The controversy over the movie has also come at a delicate time for Beijing’s messaging towards Taiwan, as the People’s Liberation Army toned down its military pressure on the island in the first half of the year.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States and Japan, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but both are opposed to any attempt to take the self-governing island by force, and Washington is committed to supplying it with weapons.

https://www.amp.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3361844/why-film-calling-taiwan-reunification-drawing-fire-mainland-china