Felix Greene is one of the best known western commentators on the People's Republic of China. Since the foundation of socialist China twenty-four years ago Greene has been writing articles and books and making films about the Chinese people's achievements in developing their country.

Some people may try to dismiss Felix Greene as a one-eyed propagandist who is completely uncritical of the Chinese government's policies. However they should bear in mind the following points.

Many of the American and European commentators who tried in the past to write of socialist developments in China as a failure have had to admit they were wrong, and some of them are now saying the same things about China that Greene has been telling the world for years.

Greene has an understanding of the country equaled by few foreigners. Many westerners have been to China and made films about the country. But some of them, like the Italian producer Antonioni, have done so merely to make snide jokes at the Chinese people's expense.

Therefore these films offer students an excellent opportunity to deepen their knowledge and understanding of life in People's China today.

The first of the two films is called "Self Reliance", and it looks at the many sided character of China's developing socialist industry. Self reliance does not mean a policy of isolation from the rest of the world or self sufficiency. As the Chinese Vice-Premier Teng Hasiao-Ping put it in a recent speech to the UN General Assembly's Special Session on the Problems of Raw Materials and Development:

"By self-reliance we mean that a country should mainly rely on the strength and wisdom of its own people, control its own economic life-lines, make full use of its own resources, strive hard to increase food production and develop its national economy step by step and in a planned way."

The film shows some of the way in which this policy is being carried out by the Chinese people. It shows a small "backyard" steel furnace and a small town workshop which makes tractors as examples of how the policy of self reliance is being applied at the local level. Production on such a small scale may not seem economically very "efficient" in western terms, says Greene, but that is not the criterion.

Strategic defence

In most developing countries industry is concentrated in a few centres while the rest of the country, and the great majority of the population, are left untouched. The Chinese however believe that industrial development should be spread right throughout the country so that the national economy can develop in a balanced way. Futhermore the development of industry in rural areas is an important means of preventing seasonal unemployment in the countryside and of breaking down the social and economic divisions between town and countryside. It also has strategic significance for the defence of the country.

The film also shows the development of heavy industry which is crucial in overcoming the legacy of thousands of years of poverty the result of feudal agricultural developments and foreign exploitation. Although China is still a poor country and a developing country it now produces enough oil for its domestic requirements, it is the biggest producer and exporter of textiles in the world, and it has become a exporter of food.

But the Chinese don't intend to simply copy the western capitalist world in its industrial development. For example the Chinese rely on railways, buses and push bikes as their main means of transportation because they have seen the bad effects of the "car culture". in the west.

Pollution

The Chinese have also become very conscious of the problem of pollution, and the film shows some of the ways in which they are trying to overcome it. Conservation of natural resources has always been an important part of the Chinese government's policy and after liberation in 1949 the Chinese embarked on a vast reafforestation programme. Last year's NZUSA delegation was particularly impressed by the number of trees they saw in urban areas.

One particularly interesting part of the policy of self reliance which the film brings out is the development of small neighbourhood workshops in the towns. Housewives, make up a large number of the workers in these workshops, and Greene shows house-wives making tiny integrated circuits for computers — work which is only done in a few highly developed laboratories in the west.

Friendship first competition second

The other film that will be shown is "Friendship first competition second" —the slogan which embodies the Chinese attitude towards sport and recreation. Most foreigners think of the Chinese as a very hard working people, says Greene. But they are not a solemn people, and this film shows that a wide variety of sports are played and enjoyed right throughout the country.

This film also deals with the performing arts, including revolutionary opera and ballet and traditional acrobatic skills. One important aspect of cultural developments in People's China is that they combine the artistic traditions of the past with the socialist policies of the present.

The Chinese place a big emphasis on understanding the history of their country. As was emphasised time and again to us last year, the Chinese have preserved ancient buildings and artifacts to show the accomplishments of the working people despite the oppression of emperors, feudalists, and foreign imperialists.

Most of the revolutionary operas and ballets, which are tremendously popular, also concentrate on the past — especially on the Chinese people's struggle against the landlords, the foreign imperialists and the Japanese invaders. The themes of these operas and ballets are designed not only to remind people of the past, but also to show how the Chinese revolution was organised and developed by the Communist Party through patient and selfless work among the people.

Felix Greene's films are some of the best documentaries currently available on life in the People's Republic of China, so don't miss seeing them. "Self Reliance" and "Friendship first competition second" will be shown in the Memorial Theatre at 12 noon on Wednesday May 1. There will be an entrance fee of 30c to help cover the cost of the purchase of the films.