Steve Bannon, a onetime chief strategist to President Donald Trump and a vocal China critic, is working on a film that targets Chinese President Xi Jinping.
With the Trump administration negotiating with China on the second phase of a trade deal, Bannon is producing "Emperor: Rise of Xi" and will release the film sometime around Labor Day, according to CNBC.
The movie, CNBC reports, will provide insight into Xi's background and his family's ties to the late Chinese dictator Mao Zedong and the Communist Party. It will also touch on the sometimes rocky U.S.-China relations and related topics.
"This film will be a devastating takedown of the 'myth of Chairman Xi' including the Wall Street and corporatist faction that props up the regime," Bannon told CNBC of the 90-minute feature.
Production of the film has thus far been supported by $4.4 million in anonymous donations, including one $2 million gift.
Bannon, who departed the White House in August 2017, has historically been a China hawk with outspoken views about how the U.S. should handle trade and other issues with the communist country. In May 2019, for example, he urged President Donald Trump to keep his foot on the gas pedal in regards to pressuring China in the trade war.
In October, Bannon praised the tariffs Trump placed on Chinese imports, saying they forced China to sit down with U.S. negotiators to hammer out a deal.
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