The China Hustle Movie Script

I mean, there was this whole backstory, right?

He basically says that, all these companies in China are fraud, are just wholesale bullshit.

And I was dismissive of it.

I can't remember the date, but I got an email saying, "I'm gonna be in New York.

Let's meet." I was like, "Oh, okay," so I go to this hotel, and there's this guy, and he's like, "Oh, I'm Jon Carnes." Like, "I'm the guy who's been... you know, I'm Alfred Little." As one of the few Westerners still working as a short seller inside China, Carnes knew how to be careful and cover his tracks.

Posing as Alfred Little had served him well.

But when he decided to take on Silvercorp, a mining company in rural Hunan province, he and his investigators would find out the dark side of guanxi.

You know, some companies are more aggressive than others, but in general, I've found that the more truthful the report, the more difficult it is for a company to explain these negative truths, the more likely they're going to commit some form of retaliation.

Because if a company can't answer the questions raised by the short seller, then they look for other means to stop the negative reports.

As Alfred Little began to publicly question Silvercorp, the company's stock price started to drop.

Company officials called in favors with the local authorities.

Police began to threaten Little's chief researcher, Kun Huang, detaining him for hours or days at a time, demanding to know whom he was really working for.

Carnes knew that there was no cavalry coming.

He'd asked the SEC for help, and they said their phones couldn't even dial China, let alone protect him and his team.

I'm looking for Officer Yi.

(speaking in Mandarin) He sent another researcher to secretly record evidence that local police officials were doing Silvercorp's bidding.

He would use the videos as leverage to try and keep Kun out of jail.

Have you had any contact with Kun Huang?

(in Mandarin) Communist Party Official: No.

Official:

Don't have any more contact with him.

Official:

Kun Huang is insignificant.

Like a pebble.

Official:

Toss one out and no one would care.

Official:

He's a Chinese national committing crimes in China.

This issue... If Silvercorp didn't make such a big mess of it, It all would have been concluded by the end of last year.