Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BEIJING1404
2009-05-27 05:52:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Beijing
Cable title:  

HUMAN TRAFFICKING MOVIE DIRECTOR TELLS STUDENTS TO

Tags:  PGOV PHUM SMIG KTIP KCRM KWMN CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3467
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #1404/01 1470552
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 270552Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4154
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 001404 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM; EAP/PPD; EAP/RSP JVORDERSTRASSE; G/TIP
CCHAN-DOWNER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2034
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SMIG KTIP KCRM KWMN CH
SUBJECT: HUMAN TRAFFICKING MOVIE DIRECTOR TELLS STUDENTS TO
"SEEK THE TRUTH"

Classified By: Acting POL Deputy Dan Kritenbrink. Reasons 1.4 (B) and
(D).


Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 001404

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM; EAP/PPD; EAP/RSP JVORDERSTRASSE; G/TIP
CCHAN-DOWNER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2034
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SMIG KTIP KCRM KWMN CH
SUBJECT: HUMAN TRAFFICKING MOVIE DIRECTOR TELLS STUDENTS TO
"SEEK THE TRUTH"

Classified By: Acting POL Deputy Dan Kritenbrink. Reasons 1.4 (B) and
(D).


Summary
--------------


1. (C) A recent Embassy showing of "Blind Mountain," a PRC
film depicting a young, college-educated Chinese woman who is
trafficked for marriage to a poor farmer in rural Shaanxi
Province, elicited strong reactions from a student audience.
In a Q&A session afterward with the film's director Li Yang,
some students criticized Li for producing a film showcasing
China's failings, while others effusively praised his courage
in addressing such a sensitive topic. At the same event,
PolOff explained USG efforts to combat trafficking in persons
(TIP) worldwide and fielded questions on China and the United
States' anti- trafficking records. End Summary.

Program on Human Trafficking
--------------


2. (SBU) On March 19, the Embassy hosted a showing of Chinese
director Li Yang's film "Blind Mountain" (Mang2 Shan1) at the
Embassy's American Center for Educational Exchange for a
group of 80 Chinese students from Peking University, Tsinghua
University, the Foreign Affairs College and the University of
Science and Technology. The film, which tells the story of a
young, college-educated Chinese woman who is trafficked for
marriage to a poor farmer in rural Shaanxi Province, was
available in China but had not yet been shown in cinemas.

Questions and Answers with the Director
--------------


3. (SBU) The film's director and producer, Li Yang, joined
the group after the showing for a lengthy question and answer
session that touched on topics related to human trafficking,
law enforcement in China, filmmaking and the responsibility
of China's newly emerging global citizens. The showing also
provided PolOff an opportunity to present USG efforts to
combat TIP around the world and to field questions about
China and the United States' anti-trafficking records as well
as publication of the USG's annual TIP report.

Strong Reactions from Students

--------------


4. (SBU) Students' sometimes emotional comments varied
widely. Some criticized the director for producing a film
showcasing China's failings (especially to foreigners since
the film was shown abroad but not yet in China),while others
effusively praised the director's courage for addressing such
a sensitive topic. Some younger undergraduate students
seemed frustrated at Li Yang, and to a certain extent at the
Embassy, for showing a film that was "critical" of China to a
Chinese audience. One irate woman demanded to know why such
a film was being shown on what should have been, she thought,
an American movie night. She asked why the Embassy had not
shown instead a film highlighting American social problems.
She also demanded to know why the United States had placed
China on its Tier 2 Watch List TIP ranking. Another student
asked why Li Yang chose to make a film on an issue he
suggested was no longer a problem for China, adding that it
was "embarrassing" for China to be "exposing" its problems to
the world.

Graduate Students More Appreciative
--------------


5. (SBU) The reaction of older graduate students and a few
anti-trafficking practitioners who attended the program was
completely different. Most of them seemed impressed by the
film and by Li Yang's accurate depiction of the desperation
of a modern-day trafficking victim. Several stressed the
need for more films like "Blind Mountain" to expose the
urgent need to crack down on traffickers and their networks,
as well as to vastly improve the ability of law enforcement
to respond to such a scourge. Others noted that the film
expertly captured the damaging effect of human trafficking on
not only the trafficked individual, but also on her
community, society, and country. Many older viewers agreed
that human trafficking was a tragic problem in China, as well
as around the world, and that action needed to be taken
immediately to stem the spread of modern-day slavery
everywhere.


BEIJING 00001404 002 OF 003


Director's Response
--------------


6. (C) Li Yang (protect),in answers to questions, urged
those who thought his motive was to expose China's negative
side to foreigners to watch the film again. As a film
director, Li said he had a responsibility to shed light on
problems in society so as to inspire action. He noted that,
as the New York Times wrote in a March 8, 2008 article about
the film, "art sometimes keeps the truth alive far better
than news." The only way to make China better was to help it
solve its problems and to confront its challenges head-on.
Li urged students to find more avenues through art, including
film, to bring social problems to the attention of Chinese
citizens, so that, "unlike me tonight, when you are in front
of a student audience 20 years from now, you will have a body
of work to draw on to promote discussion and encourage
change."

Weaknesses in China's Legal System
--------------


7. (C) The weaknesses in China's legal system and the way in
which laws were poorly implemented and enforced in China
drove him to produce "Blind Mountain," Li said. China had
made many improvements in the last 20-30 years, but core
problems depicted in the film had not yet been solved. Li
noted a recent news story describing the plight of a female
student from a prominent Beijing university who had been
abducted and sold to a farmer much like the young woman in
the movie. China still needed to progress in order to
develop. Noting that he surely would have been put in jail
had he produced a similar film in the 1980s, Li said his
being able to create such a work today showed China had made
progress and was becoming more open.

An Obligation to do Better
--------------


8. (C) Li acknowledged that when he was young, he, too, was
afraid to criticize his country. Li learned, however, that
after the hardship and challenges he had overcome, the only
way to move forward was to face those challenges head-on, to
tell the truth and to expose reality. Li said he wasn't an
idealist and believed that nothing would ever be perfect.
Nonetheless, each individual had an obligation to strive to
be the best they could be and to help make their country the
best that it could be, Li emphasized.

Don't be Blind, Seek the Truth
--------------


9. (C) Li Yang ended the evening by calling on the students
"not to be blind" like the villagers depicted in his film,
who refused to see, or were indifferent to, the injustices in
the world. As young Chinese citizens, Li urged them not to
be too narrow-minded and to remember that as Chinese they had
an "obligation to their motherland" to "seek the truth." Li
also reminded students that, while they were Chinese, they
were also citizens of the world. They therefore also had an
obligation to the global community to seek justice and to
combat global problems such as human trafficking, wherever it
may occur.

A Series of Films
--------------


10. (C) "Blind Mountain," released in 2008 in the United
States, was Li Yang's first feature film since the release of
the critically acclaimed "Blind Shaft" (Mang2 Jing3) in 2003,
which focused on corruption and fraud in China's notoriously
dangerous mining industry. Primarily funded through private,
overseas sources, "Blind Mountain" suffered from numerous
instances of censorship by Chinese authorities -- as did
"Blind Shaft" -- especially because it needed official
Chinese approval to be shown at the Un Certain Regard
competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. Li Yang's
original plan was to complete a trilogy of films, with a
third film to be called "Blind River" (Mang2 Liu2),which was
to focus on the plight of China's ever-flowing migrant
population. That plan was dropped, however, when he ran up
again more government censorship when he tried to begin
filming during the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.

Alternate Versions
--------------


BEIJING 00001404 003 OF 003



11. (C) Some critics have said that to please the censorship
boards, Li Yang produced several versions of "Blind
Mountain," one of which was designed for an eventual video or
DVD release in China. Although the "edited" ending for the
Chinese release was somewhat less critical than the
"international" version that was eventually released in the
United States, the Chinese version of the film still
concluded with a blurb on the growing problem of human
trafficking in China. Although that "edited" version was
apparently available for sale in China, Li Yang provided a
copy of the American version for showing at the Embassy's
March 19 program, which was not (yet) available in China,
eliciting surprise from many audience members who had only
seen the other, sanitized version.

Comment
--------------


12. (C) The March 19 program provided a rare opportunity for
Chinese students to interact with one of China's foremost
independent film directors on combating human trafficking, a
subject on which China is increasingly focused. The
variation in students' responses between those who criticized
Li Yang for having made the film and those who praised him
for addressing a sensitive issue underscores the ongoing,
lively debate in China about how best to combat society's
ills while keeping the country strong.


13. (C) Li Yang's response to some of the students' more
nationalistic comments may also reflect a generational divide
over how to address China's problems. Li spent more than a
decade in Europe studying film and television before
returning to Beijing not long before the release of "Blind
Shaft" in 2003. He represents a group of seasoned,
well-traveled artists who grew up with stories of the
hardships and errors of pre-reform China, especially of the
Cultural Revolution, and who are returning to China after
years abroad with ideas about global citizenship. Such views
are clearly at odds with at least some of China's youth,
including several who were in attendance at the March 19
event, who are faced with a China more open to the world but
who arguably are also more sensitive to foreign criticism.
PICCUTA