I was hoping to see an accurate picture of the Chinese involvement in the global economy and politics when I went to see this documentary, however I was quite disappointed. The undertone is so obvious, BBC is very prejudiced against the Chinese except for maybe part of the first episode. The other reviews here touched on some of the most important points which I won't repeat again, but below are some additional thoughts.
1. Permission to film doesn't mean permission to infiltrate a property. The girl was simply asking for an one hour time for them to prepare, but the host simply repeats "why are you doing everything wrong?" over and over. The word that comes to mind is Paparazzi. Not quality and respectful documentary. Certainly not what I expect from BBC. And the thing is, the host started out directly with the accusation that they're doing everything wrong, without even having that interview yet. I would be VERY impressed if you DO get an interview after that initial prejudiced approach.
2. The poor school board administrator, doesn't the host feel bad to just push him into that confrontation with those protesters all by himself? They're not there to negotiate or compromise. They just don't like how it is now, and the administrator could only stand there and get spit upon. And of course you didn't cover the part where the majority of the parents AND the school board supported this installation of Chinese classes, of course you didn't cover how much extra money and time is necessary to add in a whole new curriculum. The whole thing just seems very unfair to me.
3. The Chinese went around the world to do business, not charity work. Many African countries appreciate that. People like it when you're being nice to them, but they also resent it when you're pitying them and glorifying yourself as if they're lesser beings. Chines doesn't do that. China is after all, still developing, you simply can't say "oh you're not giving out free money to others when you have starving children at home SHAME ON YOU!" You might as well start shaming the starving African children for eating livestock that is slaughtered "inhumane". Talking about morals, we put a tariff there to protect our own industries, it should be left at that. It's baffling why they'd even get into the muddy water of trying to make that sound "justified", that decision caused millions in China to lose their job, which of course is better than ourselves losing jobs I totally agree, but that's just it, no need to justify protecting ourselves. Relieved yes, appreciative yes, but trying to make it "righteous" is a far stretch. We're still taking dinner away from a lot of people somewhere else in the world, that's fine but we don't need to brag and clap to it. Do we simply HAVE to feel "better" than everyone else to go on?
4. I gathered that the 2 main things that we're blaming the Chinese for are 1) Negatively impacting the environment and 2) Upsetting local industries. I find that laughable and I'm simply disappointed that BBC, out of all the broadcasters, chose to focus on those 2 points. Really? We're gonna blame China for elephant poaching even though they've banned ivory trade in their country and cracking down on it hard? We're gonna blame them for the destruction of the rain forest even though it's being going on for decades now far before their rise and they've no direct involvement in it? We're not blaming the poachers in Africa, the illegal foresters in Brazil, not even African business and Brazil business for not regulating their own export amounts, but rather on the one who buys what's available on the market and have no control over these countries' internal policies --- China? Not to mention that China IS NOT the source of all the problems, if China isn't there, Brazil will export to the States and Europe, ivory will be sold to Japan, and globalization will ALWAYS bring up strong competitors to local industries. What's funny is that, it was us kicking open that door FORCING imperial China to trade with the rest of the world. They were fine and thriving for 4000 years on their own, it was us pushing them into the game, with guns and cannons too. Recently we're finding out that they're very good at this game, so now we're trying to blame them for playing. It just doesn't work for me. Think of better reasons BBC, just not this. This is a hypocrite in bright flashing neon lights.
I'm a Canadian, I've been to China for work, I have my own concerns with China, mostly with culture clashes. I've defended China and I've criticised China. But this documentary just rubbed me the wrong way and I find myself sympathizing against the prejudice that's been throwing at them... I mean at least not BBC documentaries, you're BBC documentaries, you're supposed to target a more intelligent population with their own perspectives and thoughts on things, a population that would rather watch a documentary than a blockbuster movie. You know, the typical present both sides of the story and let us be the judge, where is that?
Maybe BBC should stick to the nature programs where you excel. I can't trust you with your political/social documentaries now.
1. Permission to film doesn't mean permission to infiltrate a property. The girl was simply asking for an one hour time for them to prepare, but the host simply repeats "why are you doing everything wrong?" over and over. The word that comes to mind is Paparazzi. Not quality and respectful documentary. Certainly not what I expect from BBC. And the thing is, the host started out directly with the accusation that they're doing everything wrong, without even having that interview yet. I would be VERY impressed if you DO get an interview after that initial prejudiced approach.
2. The poor school board administrator, doesn't the host feel bad to just push him into that confrontation with those protesters all by himself? They're not there to negotiate or compromise. They just don't like how it is now, and the administrator could only stand there and get spit upon. And of course you didn't cover the part where the majority of the parents AND the school board supported this installation of Chinese classes, of course you didn't cover how much extra money and time is necessary to add in a whole new curriculum. The whole thing just seems very unfair to me.
3. The Chinese went around the world to do business, not charity work. Many African countries appreciate that. People like it when you're being nice to them, but they also resent it when you're pitying them and glorifying yourself as if they're lesser beings. Chines doesn't do that. China is after all, still developing, you simply can't say "oh you're not giving out free money to others when you have starving children at home SHAME ON YOU!" You might as well start shaming the starving African children for eating livestock that is slaughtered "inhumane". Talking about morals, we put a tariff there to protect our own industries, it should be left at that. It's baffling why they'd even get into the muddy water of trying to make that sound "justified", that decision caused millions in China to lose their job, which of course is better than ourselves losing jobs I totally agree, but that's just it, no need to justify protecting ourselves. Relieved yes, appreciative yes, but trying to make it "righteous" is a far stretch. We're still taking dinner away from a lot of people somewhere else in the world, that's fine but we don't need to brag and clap to it. Do we simply HAVE to feel "better" than everyone else to go on?
4. I gathered that the 2 main things that we're blaming the Chinese for are 1) Negatively impacting the environment and 2) Upsetting local industries. I find that laughable and I'm simply disappointed that BBC, out of all the broadcasters, chose to focus on those 2 points. Really? We're gonna blame China for elephant poaching even though they've banned ivory trade in their country and cracking down on it hard? We're gonna blame them for the destruction of the rain forest even though it's being going on for decades now far before their rise and they've no direct involvement in it? We're not blaming the poachers in Africa, the illegal foresters in Brazil, not even African business and Brazil business for not regulating their own export amounts, but rather on the one who buys what's available on the market and have no control over these countries' internal policies --- China? Not to mention that China IS NOT the source of all the problems, if China isn't there, Brazil will export to the States and Europe, ivory will be sold to Japan, and globalization will ALWAYS bring up strong competitors to local industries. What's funny is that, it was us kicking open that door FORCING imperial China to trade with the rest of the world. They were fine and thriving for 4000 years on their own, it was us pushing them into the game, with guns and cannons too. Recently we're finding out that they're very good at this game, so now we're trying to blame them for playing. It just doesn't work for me. Think of better reasons BBC, just not this. This is a hypocrite in bright flashing neon lights.
I'm a Canadian, I've been to China for work, I have my own concerns with China, mostly with culture clashes. I've defended China and I've criticised China. But this documentary just rubbed me the wrong way and I find myself sympathizing against the prejudice that's been throwing at them... I mean at least not BBC documentaries, you're BBC documentaries, you're supposed to target a more intelligent population with their own perspectives and thoughts on things, a population that would rather watch a documentary than a blockbuster movie. You know, the typical present both sides of the story and let us be the judge, where is that?
Maybe BBC should stick to the nature programs where you excel. I can't trust you with your political/social documentaries now.