SUPERPOWER: 100 years of communism in China - an incredible success story | WELT Documentary

[Music] china's power continues to grow inexorably xi jinping general secretary of the communist party and president of china governs with absolute power as state founder mao once did most chinese are enthusiastic a century after the founding of the chinese communist party the country is strong again like in former times [Music] the party has never had to win an election it's shot to power following a civil war in line with mouse saying political power grows out of the barrel of a gun but following the introduction of economic reforms and opening up in 1978 china's economy has also developed strongly and no longer shows any sign of the shortage management once common in the soviet union and gdr chinese communism works with nearly four million soldiers the people's liberation army is the largest military force in the world never-ending applause for xi jinping the commander-in-chief in contrast with other countries in the world the military is not under the control of the chinese state but the party it's to the party that the soldiers swear their oath of allegiance i swear to obey the leadership of the communist party of china and serve the people to follow all orders maintain strict discipline and keep official secrets safe i will train hard in order to vanquish the enemy and shall always be prepared to fight i will defend the motherland to my death should the soldiers keep their oath they will have to still fight for the communist party and its leader xi jinping even if they are no longer in power [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] from a western perspective a contradiction in terms on the one hand an authoritarian party on the other a modern country with elegant buildings like the birds nest olympic stadium in beijing to explain this we have to go back well over a hundred years china's rise to become a leading power of the 21st century is closely tied to a man who lived over 2500 years ago confucius he preached learning and discipline exactly what is required to prevail in today's globalized world china owes its comeback to the teachings of confucius the man it all traces back to was actually called kung chu he was born in 551 bc half a century before rome became a republic over in europe confucius was born here in the city of chufu then in the former state of liu it is now part of the chinese province of shandong because of his wise orations the city's greatest son was later given the name confusion which means master khan this is where the name confucius originates [Music] his father died when he was two years old he stood out at an early age as an extremely industrious pupil but most of all due to his insightful sayings do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire he attracted an ever increasing number of students and promoted altruism and enlightenment he became counsel to the duke and built a civilized society here everyone enjoyed a good education irrespective of their social background everything under the heavens serves society but duke ding who had been confucius's patron soon came under pressure influential families in the state of lou were not happy about confucius's teachings that education and morality were more important than social background his opponents sent dancing girls to seduce the duke confucius had to flee but he continued to advocate for his teachings [Music] these terracotta warriors were created 200 years after confucius's death 8 000 soldiers watching over a dead man baked from earth for all eternity [Music] the pharaohs built pyramids but only one prepared for life after death in the way the first emperor of china [Music] chinchi huangdi did during his lifetime he unified several states introduced a common currency and standard units of measure one of the most important museums in the world is situated close to china's ancient imperial capital xi'an the starting point of the silk road let's start from here leslie please museum guide han dong hong used to teach english at a school here is pain number one nowadays she teaches history to foreigners something she's proud of because china was the superpower of the ancient world in here you can see the arranged three lines in the front then the vanguard this should be the archers they have the arrows to stop the enemy first in any south and north there is a light on each side to stop enemy attack from both direction even in the back part there is a one life is rear that is a rear guard it is still underground but the expert have do some chemicals just have do some excavation work there like the pyramids and the great wall of china the terracotta warriors are now considered one of the great wonders of the world but nowhere else do you get to see people from that era as you do here that is a wonder in a world of in the history of the world never before never after and also the second i mentioned is a detailed sculpture here you can see we have already restored a thousand of the warriors there's faces each one is different from their faces you can judge the either nationalities their ages since they're fish expressions each one's different although lined up in rank and file no terracotta figurine resembles another they were probably modeled on actual people each one unique tourists from around the world flocked to see the terracotta warriors but the majority of visitors are from china they come here in search of their country's history it's true isn't it for us it's like a message from china's past it shows what methods they used back then and how wise they were they left us a very precious legacy here it enables us to understand how advanced our country was back then it really is very precious for the chinese this clay army attests to a former greatness that they are now in the process of regaining china's first emperor chinchi huangi ordered construction of the great wall of china in 214 bc it would eventually reach a length of nearly 9 000 kilometers it's still by far the largest structure on earth to this day later emperors made peaking their capital and built the forbidden city here this is where they lived and from where they ruled mere mortals were forbidden from entering as late as 1820 china was still responsible for a third of global economic output but the country became isolationist and stagnated and so was unable to withstand the onslaught of the western colonial powers the empire collapsed china fragmented into territories controlled by warlords who fought among each other whole regions fell under the control of foreign powers the chinese became second-class citizens europeans and americans treated them like slaves in july 1921 12 men who sought to change things met in this house it was here that they founded the communist party of china they were almost arrested by the french colonial police but managed to escape in this boat the chinese rose up against their oppression the nationalist guomendang initially played the leading role but it was corrupt as a result the chinese communist party and its people's liberation army attracted a growing number of followers poor farmers in particular joined up in droves they came from the villages and surrounded the cities [Music] in may 1949 the communists conquered shanghai one of the last bastions of the former regime the flag of the old humiliated china fell [Music] the same location in shanghai today after years of decline now one of the foremost cities in the world once again in tiananmen square on october 1st 1949 mao proclaimed the establishment of the people's republic of china the sentiment of millions at that time china has risen again [Music] mao took advantage of the euphoria he fostered a cult of personality about himself modeled on the example of stalin in the soviet union he was more interested in personal power than the well-being of the nation the former freedom fighter now ruled china like an emperor [Music] he destroyed the economy with increasingly strange experiments every village was ordered to produce steel there was no time left for farmwork people had to eat tree bark to survive 45 million starve to death as a result the biggest famine in the history of mankind [Music] but mao was unable to stop the hardship on the contrary in 1966 in tiananmen square he instituted the so-called great proletarian cultural revolution his objective to silence opponents within the party and critical voices in the population he incited the nation's youth to attack and torture teachers and superiors because they stood for the bad outdated culture the entire realm erupted in turmoil the youth worshiped mao like a god [Applause] alleged supporters of the old culture were paraded through the streets wearing dunce caps and many were murdered in the process [Music] mao died on september 9th 1976. his closest comrades in arms the so-called gang of four led by mao's wife zhang ching paid their respects at his coffin a month later they were all arrested mao's widow was sentenced to death with a reprieve but later took her own life when the people were allowed to pay their respects to their dead leader genuine mourning was mixed with fake tears many were aware that mao was responsible for bringing chaos misery and persecution the death of the all-powerful father figure represented an opportunity for china [Music] helmut schmidt and his wife loki were some of the first to meet deng xiaoping the new strongman his motto it doesn't matter if a cat is black or white as long as it catches mice basically the main thing is that the economy is healthy one example of china's progress since this time is the three gorges dam its construction was accompanied by propaganda from the party with the completion of this extremely complicated undertaking the third generation of leaders of the communist party has passed a major test and accomplished the historic mission of the chinese people on november 8th 1997 the yangtze was successfully stopped a project of colossal dimensions workers blasted rocks and shoved boulders into the water in this way they created a 3.7 kilometer long canal and rerouted the yangtze they could now build the dam where the river once flowed it generates as much electricity as four fukushima type nuclear power stations it tamed the yangtze the third longest river on earth it's part of the communist party's ambitious plan to make china the number one economic power the three gorges dam the largest hydroelectric power station in the world in terms of gdp adjusted per purchasing power china has already overtaken the usa making it the strongest economic power in the world right now [Music] besides taking a helicopter ride the model is the only way you can see the enormous three gorges dam and vast hydroelectric power station in its entirety the dam's chief engineer speaks for the majority of chinese when he expresses his pride [Music] this project which surpasses anything comparable elsewhere in the world was completed by us chinese through our own efforts it has given our people a huge confidence boost following the three gorgeous dam we've successfully completed other major projects we're maintaining this can-do mindset the three gorgeous dam was completed in 2008 workers clean the facade and repaint it regularly a nation looks after its largest new construction the gigantic work is continually being upgraded and expanded with for example an additional lock tourists from all over china come to marvel at the national wonder in many ways we're first in the world the hydroelectric plant with the largest power generating capacity the best flood regulation this dam is a huge boost for the economy thus improving the lives of the common people it's so amazing so great so wonderful the chinese are very proud of it growth needs education mao stands in front of the university inside they're studying chemistry china now has 3 000 universities twice as many as a decade ago like many here professor jin zillan studied abroad in his case chemistry in germany [Music] in former times the chinese philosophy of confucius taught that only by learning a lot can you improve your station in life nowadays we place great emphasis on education we have to develop technology we will very soon overtake the united migration st the nevo from osr and oil opera evil holland an example of this is chongqing now the biggest city on earth although hardly anyone has heard of it outside of china it has almost as many inhabitants as canada and covers an area the size of austria 32 million people live here a giga manhattan on the yangtze [Music] a nighttime cruise on the giling river bears witness to the rapid development energy-saving bulbs are used rather sparingly here chongqing lights up in a rainbow of colors the largest city offers spectacular cinema experiences too with massive screens on land and water restaurants and bars attract customers with enticing offers you don't have to visit the zoo to see live sharks for instance they swim in the aquarium of a somewhat better bar [Music] just having a quiet drink at home with a couple of friends is a foreign concept here everything has to be big and bright [Music] a shark bar that lives up to its name the communist party of china no longer preaches frugality amassing wealth and enjoying oneself is no longer frowned upon [Music] fun is allowed as long as you conform politically this new prosperity requires a great deal of energy oil comes from dai ching in the northeast of china the city was founded during mao's time in china oil has a long history too as you discover at the city museum this art right here you can see the tools used for drilling bore holes in ancient china we had them one thousand years before other countries came up with the idea the other countries following the revolution the party took control of oil production as well mao intervened personally his famous words were that in order to develop petroleum industry in china it takes revolution and hard work then in 1959 oil was discovered in dei ching this display shows the amount extracted over the years the choir of the work crew sings we extract oil for the revolution [Music] [Music] brezhnev and hanukkah there is a communist party organization in every company their bosses just look better than in previous eras as party secretary i'm responsible for developing awareness in our workers to motivate them to achieve higher levels of performance and increase their self confidence in a communist party it isn't the members that set the party line they obey the leadership and implement its directives in the economy as well as in the media with 90 million members the communist party of china is the biggest party on earth it cannot be compared with a party in the western sense though instead it resembles the army of officials of the chinese emperors that was raised in line with confucian doctrine he is still approved by the party today with marx lenin mao and above all xi jinping being added to the mix they sing the national anthem today the communist party sees itself primarily as a party that makes china strong but the propaganda cannot gloss over the fact that the vast empire is being torn apart by massive conflicts for example whole neighborhoods like this one in chongqing have been approved for demolition and high-rise buildings are to be built in their place because new apartments are more expensive than the old ones reaching agreement with the existing residents often doesn't go as smoothly as hoped the inhabitants are supposed to be compensated and given new accommodation in theory [Music] [Applause] they've torn down our house but haven't compensated us they promised to give us 300 yuan per square meter a laughably small sun and they haven't even paid us that they've taken away our field over there as well corrupt functionaries line their own pockets with the compensation money intended for the residents such conflicts endanger the party hegemony the party is aware of the problem and is trying to win over the populace not only with jubilee celebrations like this xi jinping has announced a campaign against corruption too a useful side effect it gives him an opportunity to purge opponents from within the party at the same time because you can find dirt on everyone she learned that from mao likewise the founding principle of the party which still applies today political power grows out of the barrel of a gun fear is an effective precept of government rockets act as a deterrent be it for the distant usa or the renegade island of taiwan which they wish to annex [Music] xi jinping is also aware that the gap between rich and poor cannot be allowed to grow too wide this would call into question the legitimacy of communist rule after all the communist party was originally the party of the little people in the years leading up to his taking office strikes by workers against poor working conditions in the factories rebellions among farmers against poverty discontentment in the middle class about smog in the air and chemicals in the water were becoming increasingly frequent the intention is to get young people inspired by the party and with them the population as a whole glorification of their own nation and the military helps but most important is the continued improvement of living conditions to this end she announced the goal of achieving a modest degree of prosperity for all chinese by the centennial of the communist party of china [Music] no power can halt the progress of the chinese people we will continue to increase our prosperity people throughout the world can see how happy we are and proud of our great motherland but the authority of the communist party of china is not just based on its enormous military might it has eradicated hunger in the developing nation too a journey from the third world into the first here it takes but a few minutes we're taken there by this unlicensed taxi driver a bridge leads from the old town into the new town we drive past construction sites and quickly reach the shiny new streets of feng ji at one million inhabitants a rather small city for china our driver welcomes the changes i'm better off now than i was before i was initially dissatisfied with the compensation but the new apartment i was assigned is worth far more per square meter than the old one so my wealth has grown it's a part of the same city with its old run-down neighborhoods the houses and roads here were built from scratch within the past 15 years since the construction of the three gorges dam the yangtze river has been rising five million people had to be resettled as a result [Music] the communist party of china is aware of the local conflicts and is worried about unrest which is why it's investing large sums of money in the new cities often at the expense of other regions the residents of the three gorges dam have to be kept happy bread and circuses the dance was organized by the party [Music] this government policy is a good one dancing is beneficial for one's health especially for elderly people nightlife in the chinese province shopping at the sick new stores is by no means something everyone can afford to do but the number is increasing steadily because of this people in china in contrast with those in many other countries have the impression that their lives are improving and doing so rapidly the growing prosperity which the party promised by its anniversary is evident in the metropolis chongqing too a young couple is celebrating their wedding here today wang jen is getting married he stands in front of his bride-to-be's house with the wedding company's cameraman what future does chonching hold for your family it's a chinese tradition for the bridegroom to collect the bride with his friends on the day of the wedding and give her money in red envelopes [Applause] get on your knees all right on my knees dear wife please come with me i'll give you my bank cards no problem i'll give you more envelopes of money i want 10. i'll give you the value of 88 envelopes i mean 99 envelopes the lucky numbers work inside more photographers from the wedding company are waiting they direct the celebrations everything ready you can start wife come home with me i will love you and take care of you forever i will comfort you in your darkest moments i will spend all my money on you then work harder and earn the bridegroom prevents acts of terrorism as a sky marshal his wife-to-be is a flight attendant they are part of the new chinese middle class [Applause] we are now going to the cars for a drive through chunky the ceremony is opened by one of the wedding company staff such professionally organized parties are common in china especially in the large cities those who can afford to are happy to flaunt their wealth [Music] [Applause] [Music] and the customers are spending more and more money on them [Music] the bridegroom makes his appearance like a superstar marriage in an up-and-coming land [Music] the celebration is recorded like a tv show for the digital family album 300 relatives friends and colleagues experience the emotional occasion live [Music] the wedding rings are flown in by drones [Music] the way to someone's heart here is through your bank account assuming it's full but not everyone in china is in this position on the streets so-called bang bang porters like liuen shuye who carry customers shopping for them using a bamboo pole offer their services [Music] his domicile is correspondingly simple isn't it our daughter sleeps here when she comes to visit how hard it is i have three children everything's relative what's considered poor here is not bad compared to the slums of other countries that started out under similar conditions to china but compared to china as a whole it's pretty bad [Music] this building was constructed by one of the most renowned property developers in china over there is one of the best schools in chongqing it always achieves top scores and comparison tests and if you live here you pay lower school fees nowadays some people are very rich some very poor what do you think about that that's the way society is going it's the same everywhere the well-off have it good the unfortunate have it bad all things considered though we all live a lot better now than in the past meanwhile the principal occupant the three-year-old daughter arrives she's called claire foreign names are modern the grandma looks after the little one although she enjoys a sheltered upbringing even claire defaces pictures of herself mother chen ying explains the family circumstances that's my parents bedroom [Music] you bought this apartment for your parents yes this is my parents apartment our daughter normally lives with them because we're so busy with work we have now time during the day to look after the child my father still works but my mother has already retired she cooks and we often come around for dinner and practice a bit with a child i am really i'm the hardest working look look i'm the best [Applause] children spurred on by tiger moms tiger grandmothers and tiger teachers the goal is always to be number one in china this not only applies within the family but in society as a whole the television showers the citizenry with non-stop propaganda footage of the communist revolution serves as a reminder of the world in which they live [Music] xi jinping and mrs peng yuan on their arrival in allied north korea the two countries differ enormously but their deification of the leadership shares similarly bizarre traits these pictures originate not from north korean but chinese television xi jinping became general secretary of the communist party in 2012 and president of china in 2013. since then he has fostered a cult of personality about himself not seen in china since the time of mao in his country xi jinping is officially referred to as the paramount leader and great helmsman as mao zedong once was it [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] cries of one sway ten thousand years can be heard from the crowd meaning xi jinping should live for ten thousand years while he's unlikely to achieve that feat he has already had himself appointed president for life after his predecessor deliberately introduced a limit of two terms in office like in the usa [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the outbreak of the corona pandemic in wuhan was the biggest challenge faced by the leadership under xi jinping to date initially it had to be kept under wraps thus permitting the disease to spread but then the party imposed a hard lockdown and had provisional hospitals built in short order china was soon in a better state than the rest of the world after all it has emerged from the pandemic in a much stronger position supplying the world with face masks and its own vaccines what makes china strong are hard work discipline and the high priority placed on education all of which stem from the confucian tradition today young people once again bow before the confucius temple and the imperial academy in beijing ancient rites pride in chinese history and allegiance to the state things the communist party likes to see just like at a religious ceremony the children wash their hands in innocence also present in front of the imperial academy are communist young pioneers in their red scarves the party now supports traditions it once fought to suppress [Music] the government supports us with a massive amount of funding this confucius school was furnished and equipped by the government first they had the confucius temple renovated and then set up the museum of the imperial academy the museum also helps to make confucianism popular again the state gave us an office building paid for the equipment textbooks and stuff i and so things come together that don't belong together even in the confucius temple of beijing the rights are reminiscent of asiatic religions lining up with them are the communist young pioneers [Music] the children paint the character jing for honesty one of the most important moral principles according to confucius no one believes in marx or mao anymore because despite being under communist party dictatorship near unfettered capitalism holds sway in china and so a substitute ideology had to be found the party leadership fills the gap with nationalism and the values of ancient chinese philosophy communist young pioneers read from confucius as their predecessors once read from the mao bible [Music] [Applause] the functionaries of the communist party pay their respects to confucius at his birthplace khufu a group photo of communist party provincial officials in front of the gate of respect for the saint a door which in former times was only opened for the emperor has now been re-inaugurated by xi jinping [Music] this gate was open for him the general secretary is assuming the role previously filled by the emperor as confucius once said the ruler should be like the north star he remains in one place while all the other stars move about him today a large temple complex stands on the site where confucius is thought to have been born the atheistic state encourages mass tourism there and the party summons functionaries to the residents of the confucius family in order to cure them of the temptations of corruption there's even a plaque indicating the fact the anti-corruption commission of the province party leadership is based here corruptable officials have to come here for re-education [Music] china is no longer large enough on its own under xi it has a much stronger global presence than ever before here he's dining with the former president of the swiss confederation doris leute at the world economic forum in davos thank you once again for your visit and for our excellent cooperation thank you cheers he greets the prime minister of malaysia and his wife as well as the prime minister of pakistan an especially close ally is vladimir putin xi jinping and pengluin get on well with the european first families too she's the first chinese first lady to play such a role both internationally and in her own country she was already famous in china as a folk singer long before her husband came to prominence whereas her husband rarely alters his facial expression she gives the people's republic of china an attractive face she was already a member of the party before she met him china is one of the most important members of the g20 here xi jinping is at the summit in hamburg but someone was missing him [Music] china is absent still no china in this world no there's no need to worry about that china is not about to vanish from the world stage quite the contrary in fact to the outside world the party leader likes to present himself as a football fan pandas are part of china's soft power arsenal at home she is not as easygoing winnie the pooh was censored on the internet because users were comparing xi with him besides exerting control in the digital domain the communist party of china continues to trust in the proven power of tanks xi jinping is also chairman of the central military commission of the party which controls the troops so they carry three flags those of the army the state and the party xi jinping sees himself as following the family tradition both his father and mother fought in the war against the japanese and against the nationalist gomendeng the helicopters form the number 90 for 90 years of the people's liberation army the chinese have a thing for such numbers now the talk is about the two centennials by the centennial of the communist party of china in 2021 all chinese should be living in modest prosperity this goal has to a large extent been achieved by 2049 the 100th anniversary of the founding of the people's republic china is to be the most powerful country in the world head of the party and state xi jinping has decreed it so and he is not one to say such things for fun

Channel: WELT Documentary

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Keywords: full documentary, full documentaries, hd documentary, hd documentaries, free documentary, welt documentary, welt documentaries, top documentaries, factual film, china, peoples republic of china, mao zedong, xi jinping, red, empire, 20 party congress, power, world power, economy, military, humanrights, foreign policy, silkroad, super rich, billionaires, chinese, communist party, communist, deng xiaoping, taiwan, hong kong, south china sea, usa, superpower, democracy, prc, peoples congress

Id: g9HCEJmuelc

Length: 49min 5sec (2945 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 14 2022