China’s next leaders love Hollywood WWII movies, Oklahoma
China’s next leader, Xi Jinping, "is a fan of Hollywood World War II movies and criticizes Chinese moviemakers for neglecting values they should promote," according to a confidential cable from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. The cable, dated March 19, 2007, and signed by then ambassador Clark Randt, describes Xi as extremely knowledgable about economic ...
China's next leader, Xi Jinping, "is a fan of Hollywood World War II movies and criticizes Chinese moviemakers for neglecting values they should promote," according to a confidential cable from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
China’s next leader, Xi Jinping, "is a fan of Hollywood World War II movies and criticizes Chinese moviemakers for neglecting values they should promote," according to a confidential cable from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
The cable, dated March 19, 2007, and signed by then ambassador Clark Randt, describes Xi as extremely knowledgable about economic development in his province of Zhejiang, where he was governor at the time. But it also goes into some detail about his movie preferences.
He enjoyed Saving Private Ryan and The Departed, but apparently is not such a fan of Zhang Yimou, the popular Chinese director of The Curse of the Golden Flower and The House of Flying Daggers:
America is a powerful nation in terms of culture because Americans say what they should say, Xi elaborated. Too many Chinese moviemakers cater to foreigners’ interests or preconceptions, sometimes vulgarly so. He criticized Zhang Yimou by name as well as the kungfu action movie genre. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Wu Ji" and imperial palace intrigues — all are the same, talking about bad things in imperial palaces. Most are not nominated for Oscars or other awards, so to some extent it can be said that such movies are not worth very much.
Another cable signed by Randt finds him meeting with Li Keqiang, China’s likely replacement for premier Wen Jiabao. With a smile, Li tells Randt that China’s statistics and especially its GDP numbers are “for reference only." Overall, the cable’s author finds Li "engaging and well-informed on a wide range of issues":
He displayed a good sense of humor and appeared relaxed and confident throughout. Though coy about his hobbies and interests, Li said he likes to “walk,” noting that he builds walking into his work schedule and implying that he has little time for other exercise. Although he spoke almost entirely in Chinese, Li clearly understood some English, correcting his interpreter on several occasions. Li expressed an interest in visiting the United States, noting that his last trip was six years ago, prior to the September 11 attacks. On several previous occasions, he traveled widely in the United States, visiting both coasts and the Midwest. Li said he particularly liked Oklahoma.
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