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How one documentary shed light on China’s inconvenient truth

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Girl tells film-maker she’s never seen clouds

Telling the truth, but not the whole truth – and certainly not any inconvenient truths – are the bread and butter tools of Chinese censorship.

State-run newspapers prevent emotions from running high with a daily supply of numbers, which create the not-so-subtle suggestion that reality is stable, under control and nothing to get upset about.

Naturally, this approach doesn’t include showing any pictures of citizens dying in hospitals from chronic lung disease, a result of the air pollution that has been a by-product of the country’s economic growth.

So when a heartfelt documentary that showed the ghastly effects of coal-fired power stations, mass car ownership and poorly enforced environmental regulation was released online last weekend, the film shocked the nation.

As my friend said to me after watching it: “Everyone knows there is haze. But no one really knows where it comes, how dangerous it is, and what exactly we can do.”

The knew the numbers, but it hadn’t meant anything until now.

On Sunday evening, I received a message from a Chinese friend looking to buy an air purifier, after having watched ‘Under The Dome’ – the Inconvenient Truth-style documentary about China’s airpocalypse.

This friend is a local journalist who has worked at one of China’s top news organisations for many years and knows the figures inside out.

“I saw the documentary and realised I had to act immediately,” she told me. “It reinforced the urgency. The personal style of the reporter had a great impact on me.”

It seems that even the country’s most self aware journalists needed an emotional kick to force them to focus on the smoggy haze.

Chinese children are growing up under a sky without clouds or stars. That was the image that struck many viewers by the end of Chai Jing’s heartfelt investigation.

Chai Jing presenting Under The Dome

It cut through people’s sanguine acceptance that jobs and wealth must trump every other social priority.

For expats, the outpouring of national emotion feels a little strange. We’re used to documentaries that show us the truth we can’t see. But in China, the hazardous reality of environmental abuse is all too visible.

China’s news outlets are supporting the film. A remarkable fact considering the investigation is openly critical of state-run enterprises. This suggests Jing’s plea for change is being endorsed at the highest levels of government.

China soon holds two major political meetings – the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. And it is expected that environmental issues will now be top of the discussion list.

Another Chinese friend told me that until she watched the film, she hadn’t realised the problem of air pollution was so widespread in China. She comes from Suzhou where the air is clear.

It’s actually not that clear. But when I pushed the point, she wasn’t quite ready to accept that yet.

:: Follow Sarah O’Meara on Twitter and Instagram @sarahomeara


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