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PEOPLE & ARTS Thursday 3 May 2018
'Amazing China' documentary more fiction than fact

By ERIKA KINETZ minimum wage. "These
and ELIAS MESERET companies are moving out
SHANGHAI (AP) — A com- of Asia and coming to Afri-
pany that made shoes for ca to save labor costs," said
Ivanka Trump and stands Fitsum Arega, who recently
accused of serious labor stepped down as head of
violations plays an unex- the Ethiopian Investment
pected role in a blockbust- Commission to become an
er propaganda film about adviser to the new prime
China's renaissance under minister. He said the gov-
President Xi Jinping. ernment pushes compa-
The state-backed docu- nies to protect workers and
mentary "Amazing China" praised Huajian for employ-
portrays the Huajian Group ing more than 5,000 Ethio-
as a beneficent force pians, but added that they
spreading Chinese influ- "could have done better."
ence and prosperity — in Three men working with
this case, by hiring thou- China Labor Watch were
sands of Ethiopians at wag- arrested in China last year
es a fraction of what they'd attendees arrive for a screening of the state-backed documentary "Amazing China" at the Beijing after their investigation of
have to pay in China. But Film Academy in Beijing, China. Ivanka Trump's suppliers ze-
in Ethiopia, Huajian workers Associated Press roed in on Huajian. q
told The Associated Press
they work without safety that many foreign news
equipment for pay so low sites are blocked. Willie Nelson produces
they can barely make ends Wei said he featured the
meet. "I'm left with nothing company because it is "in-
at the end of the month," troducing China's experi- another quiet gem
said Ayelech Geletu, 21, ence of prosperity to Af-
who said she earns a base rica." The film celebrates
monthly salary of 1,400 Birr Huajian as a model of the
($51) at Huajian's factory in inclusiveness at the heart By GREGORY KATZ
Lebu, outside Addis Ababa. of a much larger project: Associated Press
"Plus, their treatment is bad. Xi's signature One Belt One Does a lifetime of smok-
They shout at us whenever Road initiative, a plan to ing weed produce chronic
they want." spread Chinese infrastruc- bad breath by the time
With epic cinematogra- ture and influence across you're a few days short of
phy, "Amazing China" ar- dozens of countries so am- 85?
ticulates a message of how bitious in scope it's been Most of us will never know,
China would like to be seen compared to the U.S.-led but Willie Nelson suggests
as it pursues President Xi Jin- Marshall Plan after World it does in one of the warm,
ping's vision of a globally War II. "In opening to the quiet songs on his mortality-
resurgent nation, against a outside world, China's pur- tinged "Last Man Standing"
reality that doesn't always suit is not to only make our CD.
measure up. The film dem- lives better, but to make Willie's been joking about
onstrates the scope of Chi- the lives of others better," death for a while now —
na's propaganda machine, the film's narrator says. better to keep it at bay,
which not only crafted the But four current and former perhaps — and the wis-
stirring documentary but Huajian employees told the dom he offers on this one
also helped manufacture AP their wages were so low is memorable: "Bad breath
an adoring audience for it. that they struggled to pay is better than no breath at
The star of "Amazing Chi- their bills. They said they all."
na" — duly noted by IMDb. had no protective gear, A more serious approach
com — is Xi himself, who were forced to work long colors the title song, which This cover image released by Legacy Recordings shows "Last
appears more than 30 hours, were barred from opens this 11-song collec- Man Standing," by Willie Nelson.
times in the 90-minute film. unionizing and yelled at by tion, co-written with long- Associated Press
The movie was released Chinese managers. time producer Buddy Can-
three days before China's "There are chemicals that non. edgement that the end to Crawl" — which deals
rubber-stamp legislature hurt our eyes and nose, "I don't want to be the last may be near. with heartbreak, not aging,
convened to amend the and machines that cut man standing," he opens Later he muses on reincar- on bluesy terms.
constitution and allow him our hands," said Getahun the CD, lamenting the nation, saying he might A couple of the tunes
to potentially rule for life. Alemu, a 20-year-old who loss of so many of his clos- come back as a preacher sound lifeless and soppy,
The film's director, Wei Tie, quit Huajian last year. "They est friends. Then there's or an eagle. And he ex- but there's plenty to enjoy.
said he wasn't aware of have no idea about hand a pause — considering presses his desire to contin- This is not a big, loud eye-
the controversy surround- gloves! If you refuse to work the alternative, as the old ue living this way: "Heaven catching CD likely to recruit
ing Huajian until the AP without that protective chestnut goes — before is closed and hell's over- new fans. It's more like the
informed him. That's not gear, then you will be told adding, "Well, then maybe crowded so I think I'll stay latest addition to a long-
surprising given the years to leave the company." I do." where I am." running saga, another burst
of positive coverage Hua- Few harbor illusions about That sets the tone. For long- He vows to do better the of creativity from a tower-
jian has enjoyed in China's the main incentive for Hua- time fans, who have en- next time around. ing American artist who
Communist Party-con- jian's investment in a coun- joyed Willie for decades, it Perhaps the strongest tune can't seem to stop writing,
trolled media, and the fact try where there is no legal forces a painful acknowl- is the final one — "Very Far singing and playing guitar.