(SkyNewswire.com)--- Peaceful rise or potential threat? When it comes to China, that’s the question on everyone’s mind. The country’s unprecedented growth has raised the possibility of it overtaking the United States as the world’s biggest economy within the next 15-20 years. But what type of superpower will China become? In today’s interconnected and globalized world, the answer affects each and every one of us.
A new documentary produced by brothers Jesse and Jeremy Veverka tackles this issue head-on. China: The Rebirth of an Empire, slated for release later this year, weaves together such diverse issues as free trade, Islamic fundamentalism, North Korea’s nuclear program and the Pro-Tibet movement under the umbrella of the national aspirations of an increasingly wealthy China. The documentary is the first of its kind to reconcile American economic decline with China’s blistering growth, changing political climate and treatment of ethnic and religious minorities such as the Uyghurs and Falun Gong.
The film suggests that while America’s current economic problems may be a direct result of the recent financial crisis, their seeds were planted long ago by the confluence of US militarism and an economic doctrine that champions free trade above national well-being. As a result, the US has relied on cheap imports from a stream of Asian countries, starting with Japan in the 1970s, to the “Asian Tigers” (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong) in the 80s and 90s, and now China, to prop up its living standard, while spending increasing sums on its global empire of bases. While the economists keep expounding the virtues of offshoring and Wall Street rallies around loose monetary policy, people on Main Street know things are amiss: America’s real economy is in unrelenting decline, and it might just be enough to put China on top. “China seems to understand that the most important asset a nation can possess is its economy, this is something that we in the United States should remember before it's too late,” comments director Jesse Veverka. The film interviews East Asia expert and author of the bestsellers Blowback, The Sorrows of Empire and Nemesis, Chalmers Johnson, on this topic.
Meanwhile, exiled Uyghur spokeswoman, Rebiya Kadeer, labeled as a “separatist” by the Chinese government for her alleged role in inciting riots in Muslim populated Xinjiang in western China, suggests the nation has a long way to go if it wants to become a mature peer among the international community. The Chinese government has gone to great lengths to censor media that mention Kadeer. The Hollywood Reporter named China: The Rebirth of an Empire as one of two films that resulted in China blocking access to the online movie database IMDb, in January 2010, because Kadeer is listed as a credit. Other interviews include exiled political dissident and former Chinese Communist Party member Wei Jingsheng, former Afghan prime minister Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, and Freddie Lim, pro-democracy activist and lead singer of the Taiwanese heavy metal band ChthoniC. Join China: The Rebirth of an Empire on Facebook.
|
