Nat Geo - China's Driving Dreams

Cars are racing into China, supercharging its economy and delivering dreams of a better life. But cars are now clogging highways and spewing out clouds of pollution. The rest of the world better watch out, because some Chinese automakers have plans to flood the global market with cheaper models. In the Geely Automotive plant in Ningbo, a worker shares some alone time with his girlfriend in the canteen after hours before heading back to the dormitory he shares with seven other men. The company's chairman and founder, Li Shufu, welcomes the freshmen at his university in Beijing, who one day will work at Geely and take its products global. David and Vivian Ren shop for a car in Beijing, before spending a 12-hour day picking it up, arranging the licence plate and paying for it all with cash. The automobile industry and private car ownership are pivotal to China's economic advancement. Call it a driving dream or a nightmare, this is China's revolution on wheels.

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In China's Shadow - Taiwan (1999)

We examine the rising tensions between Taiwan and China.

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China.com (2000)

They're on billboards, buses, and benches. China has declared the tech industry its new life blood, and it's making authorities very nervous. Dot com companies have taken over the commercial world in China.

Following in the footsteps of many American companies, dot com companies have invaded commerce in China. They're now fully competitive with Western net stocks. But with hundreds of new websites cropping up every month and the number of websurfers doubling every 6 months, the pressure's on the government to find a way to regulate the internet. Jack Ma is the creator of Alibaba.com, a global on-line marketPlace for small and medium businesses. He's eager to stake his claim in the capital available for fledgeling internet companies. The feasibility of this for Jack lies in the decisions the government makes for regulation of these start-ups. The Chinese government has already blocked some sites, such as those having to do with Tibet. Some are seen as borderline, like the site which helps gay men cope with coming out. They must be very careful not to bend the strict government-imposed rules, or they too will be blocked. As China gets more entrenched in the Capitalist world, we can't help but wonder how long the government will be able to maintain a vice grip on the media.

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China Rocks (2004)

Is the world’s last communist state experiencing a rock revolution?

Pirate CDs of Western music have come flooding in. The kids can’t get enough of it but authorities remain unimpressed. 500 soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army were sent to keep watch over the country’s first ever outdoor rock concert in the Yunnan province. The local vice-mayor, Zhang Hongping views the new fashion with suspicion: “When young people hear this kind of very stimulating music they often lose their reason,” However, no matter how hard it tries, the Chinese government will struggle to quell the new tide of rock music that is breaking in China.

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Because they're worth it (2003)

Internationally, the definition for absolute poverty is living on an income of under a dollar a day. But the Chinese Government has a lower threshold for poverty: 66 US cents a day. Out of a total Chinese population of 1.3 billion, there are 42 million Chinese who are poor by this definition. This episode of Life looks at a scheme which is helping poor people, especially women, break out of the cycle of poverty and ignorance - by providing them with small loans, basic health information and education. As described in an earlier programme in this series on micro-credit in Bangladesh, Credit Where Credit's Due, these small loans bring many benefits to family life - and virtually all of them are repaid.

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Cost of Capitalism (2004)

China’s spectacular economic growth has come at a heavy price. Millions of workers have been crippled in unsafe sweatshops.

Sun Hong Yuan was literally trapped in the wheels of production. “The machine was out of control,” he recalls. “It fell down and crushed me.” Disabled and useless to his employers, he was soon fired. With his future plans in ruin, his one hope is that lawyer Zhou Litai will take on his case and help him win compensation. Zhou Litai has dealt with over a thousand similar cases. He’s become a hero to the working classes by taking on the bosses who run unsafe factories or refuse to pay their workers. “Some entrepreneurs simply seek economic profit,” he explains. “They neglect the protection of workers.” But in a society where challenging the system is highly dangerous, he knows he’s pushing his luck. Officials in a neighbouring city were even planning to run him out of town before media attention gave him a measure of protection. “He’s trying to lure the authorities into addressing this very important issue,” explains NGO worker Nicolas Becquelin. And thanks to his efforts, workers in China are discovering rights they never knew they had.

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Rebuilding Shanghai (2001)

Shanghai appears to be an amazing achievement of rapid, planned development -but at what price? We take a look at both the winners and the loser in this city.

In 1993, the East bank of the Pudong river was little more than a giant paddy field. Today it’s full of sprawling foreign managed factories and skyscrapers. The scale of construction has been immense - 2 years ago it was said that Shanghai had one quarter of the world’s construction cranes. This rapid rejuvenation is attracting Chinese from all over the Nation: “The Shanghainese live a very busy life, but they think that Shanghai is the best Place to live in the world,” comments Mary Gu, one of Shanghai’s new arrivals. However, in the rush to build, much of Old Shanghai is being flattened. Anxious residents flock to see the urban planning centre model, hoping to find their own few millimetres still intact. Madam Chen is one of those who has already been displaced. She is finding it hard to survive without the rent from her house: “They told us if they tore down 4 houses, they would give me 4 rooms back. Now my life is hard and difficult. I don’t care how much better Shanghai becomes.” Shanghai may be able to impress international investors, but the benefits offered by the government may take some time to filter down to the losers in their game plan.

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Kung Fu Monks (2002)

The Shaolin monks are famous worldwide for their Kung-fu. But there are now fears that their fame is corrupting their ancient Xen Buddhist traditions. ‘’They try to trick you and get as much money as possible’’. says one German student. In every surrounding village there are schools and tourist traps cashing in on their celebrity.

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A New Direction (2002)

As China begins the process of approving new leaders, we examine the new-look Communist party and ask where its future lies.

China’s modern Communist Party bears little resemblance to the one which rose to power under Chairman Mao. Its new heroes are the very figures he used to fight. Factory owner Zhang Yue is one of the richest men in China. He was a teacher when the government began encouraging workers to start their own businesses. Now, 10 years on, his business empire has an annual turnover of $200 million. Recently, the Communist Party has even been encouraging entrepreneurs like Zhang Yue to become party members: “We see the private entrepreneur as one of the builders of the country’s socialism.” Embracing capitalism with open arms, the Party still insists it is red to the core. But others beg to differ. Dai Qing grew up in a revolutionary family. She believes the heroes of the Long March would be shocked by what the Party has become: “There is no Communist Party at all. Right now, we only have a corrupt party.” The gap between rich and poor is widening. Corruption is rife and popular discontent is growing. Will the Communist Party’s new “re-vamped” image be enough to save it from extinction?

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The Sexist Revolution (2002)

Disturbing new statistics have shown that women in China are far more likely to commit suicide than their male counterparts. But, as our shocking report on the pressures facing modern-day Chinese women suggests, is it really any surprise?

In a Beijing hospital, a women is undergoing an operation. After sawing her leg bones in two, surgeons start drilling holes through her calves. They then hammer in long, metal pins. The aim is not to correct any illness or deformity, but rather to stretch the woman’s legs by 8 cm, thereby making her taller and more attractive. These days, the dull conformity of socialist dogma has all but disappeared, to be replaced by a kaleidoscope of Western-style consumerism. It’s a world where appearance is becoming all-important, where many will go to painful extremes to become something they’re not. It’s a time of breathtaking change in the world’s most populous country. But for China’s women, it seems they have merely exchanged one set of shackles for another.

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Xinjiang Repression (2002)

The Uighur separatist movement of China’s far western Xinjiang province wants an Islamic state, to be called East Turkestan.

China claims thousands of Uighurs have received training in Afghanistan and have links to Osama Bin Laden. It’s detained thousands of Uighurs since September 11th and torture is allegedly widespread. Muslim clerics have been sent in droves for ‘re-education’. Amnesty International claims “the current campaign is essentially a campaign against dissent and opposition”. But Xinjiang’s Communist party secretary retorts “Amnesty International is prejudiced.” He also makes clear “There’s no room for negotiation. China is a unified country”. Separatist bombings and riots have rocked Xinjiang since the 1980’s, but there have been no serious attacks since 1997 - although Uighur separatists were linked to the recent death of a senior Chinese diplomat in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan. It seems the ‘war on terror’ is a pretext for a war on freedom… On the first official media visit to the province in two years, the filmmakers are prevented from talking to ordinary Uighurs, trailed and filmed at every turn, shown a ‘model mosque’ and a ‘model village’. But under the cover of darkness, brave individuals speak out: “Work all day and starve. That’s why people stir up trouble… they all want independence, but don’t have the power to achieve it”. A massive influx of Han Chinese to work on a 4,000km gas pipeline has fuelled Uighur unemployment and done more to fuel resentment than any foreign fanatics.

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The Epoch Times - Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party (2006)

Official Website

More than a decade after the fall of the former Soviet Union and Eastern European communist regimes, the international communist movement has been spurned worldwide. The demise of the Chinese Communist Party is only a matter of time.

ChinaDocs Warning: Please be aware that while this is an interesting documentary, it is made by, and therefore biased towards, the Falun Gong movement. Its neutrality is questionable.

Part 1: On What the Communist Party Is ?
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Part 2: On the Beginnings of the Chinese Communist Party
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Part 3: On the Tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party
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Part 4: On How the Communist Party Is an Anti-Universe Force
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Part 5: On the Collusion of Jiang Zemin with the CCP to Persecute Falun Gong
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Part 6: On How the Chinese Communist Party Destroyed Traditional Culture
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Part 7: On the Chinese Communist Party’s History of Killing
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Part 8: On How the Chinese Communist Party Is an Evil Cult
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Part 9: On the Unscrupulous Nature of the Chinese Communist Party
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