The Coming War on China Page #14

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China is not a class society.

- [John Narrating] But

China is a class society.

These are the homes of migrant workers,

people who build and

service the new China.

Here it's not uncommon for three families

to share one tiny flat.

- You know, you associate a

socialist country with equality

but unfortunately it seems

the reform has started.

China has become one of the

most unequal societies in the world.

The income gap is widening.

Governments, I feel,

have retreated some of

the responsibilities, left

the markets to take over,

but the market does not

always treat women kindly.

Some private companies

that would just refuse

to hire child-bearing aged women.

And sometimes when women became pregnant,

they would sack them.

Because they don't want to

pay their maternity leave.

And in fact, the income

gap has grown much bigger

between men and women.

- Your old boss, Deng Xaoping,

presided over the bloodshed

in Tiananmen Square.

What would you say to the

survivors of Tiananmen Square,

because so many of those did fight

for what they saw as

democratic change in China?

- In 1989, there were

two political forces.

One of those were presented

by the Chinese students.

Their hero was Mikhail Gorbachev,

who happened to be in Beijing.

Their slogan was,

"Soviet Union's Today

is China's Tomorrow."

So the idea was political reform first,

other reform second.

Otherwise, China would be hopeless.

Deng's message was the opposite.

He thought Gorbachev was an idiot.

He thought China must have

economic reform first,

other reform second.

This priority must be set clear.

Unfortunately, at that

particular moment in 1989,

the two political forces

could not reach a compromise.

That's when the tragedy occurred.

- [John Narrating] It

was more than a tragedy.

It was a massacre

of which the memory remains a

raw presence in modern China.

- Why does the Chinese

state still fear the few?

The few who speak out,

and I'm thinking of--

- Liu Xiaobo? (laughs)

- [John] Exactly.

This man won the Nobel Peace

Prize and he's in prison.

- He violated Chinese law by a big margin.

So actually the freedom of expression,

similar views are aired by many people

but he really going to the extreme.

- [John Narrating] Liu Xiaobo

challenged the government

to implement democratic reforms

and he spent a total

of 13 years in prison.

- Why can't a confident China

accept a criticism like that?

- Nobel peace committee

makes huge mistake.

They owe the Chinese an explanation.

If you cross a line, you

violate the constitution,

you violate so many laws,

you should be punished.

(somber music)

- [John Narrating] And yet in China today,

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