The Pacific Century — Season 1, Episode 1: The Two Coasts of China
Documentary • 30 min • 1 season, 10 episodes • ★ 10.0/10
Episode synopsis
Introduces the concept of a "balancing act" in China's elite's perceptions of external threats and opportunities that in one form or another have presented themselves ever since the creation of a unified Chinese state. Most of this episode, however, takes place in the 19th century when the threat was overwhelmingly from the seacoast with the arrival of aggressive Western traders and, ultimately, their countries' warships.
About The Pacific Century
The Pacific Century was a 1992 PBS Emmy Award winning ten part documentary series narrated by Peter Coyote about the rise of the Pacific Rim economies. Alex Gibney was the writer for the series, and Frank Gibney, his father, wrote the companion trade book, The Pacific Century: America and Asia in a Changing World. The companion college telecourse, Pacific Century: The Emergence of Modern Pacific Asia, was written and edited by Mark Borthwick. The series was a co-production of the Pacific Basin Institute and KCTS-TV in Seattle. Principle funding was provided by the Annenberg Foundation.