ForbiddenKnowledgeTV
Tyler Bass
March 22, 2015
Fossil fuel emissions spike the rates of lethal illnesses like cancer, killing millions of people – 2.8 million in China alone, according to the World Health Organization. The emissions cause dangerous tumors, such as the one investigative journalist Chai Jing believes complicated her newborn’s chances of survival. Her documentary on the pollution crisis, “Under The Dome,†took her country by storm before government officials had the documentary taken off of the Chinese internet, and ordered that the media cease discussing it. Even a public mention of that order itself resulted in the suspension of a China Business News reporter in Shanghai.
The BBC says that in the first 48 hours after its release, the documentary received a hundred million views. And in the days that followed, those views would expand into the hundreds of millions. Despite censoring of the film, Chai received praise from Chinese officials in immediate wake of its release – praise that included a grateful text message from the environmental protection minister. The Chinese live under a government wary of liberalism and Western influence, and the “Great Firewall†makes it more difficult to expose themselves to views from the outside.
Sam Geall is executive director of China Dialogue, an English and Chinese blog focusing on environmental issues. He told The Guardian, in the U.K., that although Communist Party officials signed off on the documentary before its release, its removal from the Web can be chalked up to a desire by the censorship-friendly regime to raise awareness without sparking unnecessary political unrest.
“I think [the documentary] was intended to be out there for a little while,†Geall said. “It’s always been something they’ve been keeping an eye on and I think it was very carefully calibrated. It highlights the way this communication is supposed to work: to push a specific line at a particular time and not to galvanise a citizens’ response.â€
A Chinese journalism professor, Zhan Jiang, told The Guardian that government officials are concerned that other mothers might stage protests that would overshadow the annual meeting of lawmakers.
Add comment