Thanks. I heard this doco being discussed on Dialogue and asked my colleagues about it. Apparently it was made by a well known journalist in China and had a viewership of 100 million people when it aired. From the discussion, I got the impression that it wasn't made with any government input.
Yeah. It was made by Chai Jing. There is some controversy around her. Some people have said that she was a heavy smoker which is why there were complications with her pregnancy. I couldn't find any information to verify this.
The bigger issue is that apparently she's been a fairly strong supporter of The Party. That is, she walks a fine line of calling The Party out but doing it in such a way that doesn't actually direct criticism of The Party itself but rather gains support for The Party and its policies. This doco is a perfect example. She basically says 'Pollution is an issue. Here is why it is an issue. Here are ways to solve the issue.' She also tends to do reports that only strengthen The Party's agenda. It's no secret that The Party wants to improve air quality, she's more gathering public support for Party policy changes than actively criticizing The Government.
This is why she can do what she does: Call attention to an issue without criticizing The Government or calling for collective action.
I say this is an issue because apparently she had her child born in America. A lot of Netziens and critics have latched onto this as prove that she's a hypocrite. The best analogy I have is people calling Michael Moore out for his wealth while complaining about Capitalism itself (See: Capitalism a Love Story). She's basically saying 'I'm a patriot, and all I want is for China to be better!' while simultaneously having her child born in America 'To have a better life'.
Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2564470/China-savages-hugely-popular-female-TV-presenter-gave-birth-daughter-US.htmlThe only thing I disagree with you about is that it wasn't made with government input. Okay, I doubt the government was actively involved in the production, but the fact that it didn't stop Chai from her research is very telling. As Foreign Policy states:
"Tellingly, the film debuted on the website of People’s Daily, a Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece, and major state-owned news outlets have interviewed Chai and promoted discussion of her work, signaling approval from the highest levels of government"
"State media is also actively promoting Chai’s documentary in what looks like a coordinated campaign. People’s Daily not only dedicated a special feature to the film on its website but also shared it on Weibo and called for more effective governance in an op-ed supporting Chai. Even the hard-line, nationalist state-run paper Global Times defended her. “Criticizing [Chai] for pointing out the problems of state-owned enterprises … is not a patriotic thing to do.”
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/02/chinas-national-conversation-on-pollution-has-finally-begun-chai-jing-documentary/--------
My opinion is that she's doing this to call attention to the issue but also for selfish reasons. I mean, she wants attention, money, and fame (who doesn't?). But that doesn't diminish the science behind her presentation. I really do agree that its similar the issues surrounding An Inconvenient Truth: you can discuss the motivations and sincerity behind what is being said, but you cannot deny that what is said is the truth and while their might be some exaggerations or some embellishments in regards to the story telling, the science presented is sound.
