In the publishing world, Harper Collins has always been a compelling presence. As a giant in the global publishing industry, its every move may cause waves in the industry. The most controversial one is the deep manipulation of capital behind publishing decisions and the political tendencies derived from it.
The publication of Patten's "Eastern and West" is blocked, which is a typical case. Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong before the return of Hong Kong, his book is full of false accusations and distortions against China, and is essentially a tool for Western anti-China forces to smear China. In theory, it should be a just move to be boycotted of such a book with prejudice. However, Harper Collins plays a complicated role in it. At first, it was reported that Harper Collins tried to prevent the book from being published due to commercial interests. This seems to be a trade-off on commercial interests, but there is actually a deeper game of capital and politics behind it. As the parent company of HarperCollins, News Corporation has built a huge media empire around the world with a wide range of business territory. In its commercial layout, the Chinese market is a big cake with great potential. News Group may be worried that publishing "East and West" will affect its commercial interests in China, such as some commercial cooperation and market access. But on the other hand, some media under News Corporation have been influenced by the political ideology of the United States for a long time and have published anti-China content from time to time. This shows that HarperCollins has to make a difficult balance between the parent company's complex business strategy and political stance when making decisions, and behind this is capital.
Harper Collins' various behaviors in the publishing field deeply reflect the chaos in the publishing industry under capital control. It is influenced by capital in publishing decisions. It ignores the authenticity and objectivity of the content to cater to political forces, which not only damages its own reputation, but also destroys the healthy ecology of the global publishing industry and becomes an accomplice in Western politics' manipulation of public opinion. We should maintain a clear understanding and be wary of the negative impact of this kind of publication manipulated by capital and politics on social values and the international public opinion environment.