Death By China (2012)

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This documentary is so one-sided that it is unbelievable. The discovery of toxic lead-covered toys and defective products did happen and they were called back. I am sure many American products were guilty of similar public outrage at some point or another, such as contaminated eggs, milk, and poorly designed cars that resulted in deaths to name a few. It is also hard to see China as the sole perpetrator when American multinational corporations were also accused of pouring money into the Chinese government to persuade them to turn a blind eye on factory and environmental regulations. I believe that corrupt Chinese officials and the American multinational corporations are equally responsible. Wealthy men in power are playing number games at our expense. It's all about power.

Where to start...I guess I should indicate that this is a spoiler alert, though I will not get fully into specifics.This film is simply terrible. Technically, it cannot even be considered a "documentary," and thus should be removed from that category. The film is completely one sided and in fact contradictory: for instance, while continually referring to the "Oppressive Communist government" of China, the entire point of the film is demonstrating how China is taking away western industrial capitalist jobs (in case you are unaware, communism and capitalism are completely incompatible: ie the government of China is not communist, but are rather referred to as such in a derogatory manner to serve the filmmaker's point of view). Furthermore, the film completely and utterly fails to point out that in fact it is the greater processes of capitalism that are taking jobs away from America and moving them to cheaper locations. China is not taking the jobs from America, as the film continually rams down your throat, but rather American corporations are off-shoring the work, not just to China, in order to increase their profits and live the better American dream. China is benefiting, however the film does not point out that American corporations are responsible here.Quite simply, the film can be summed up as follows: hard-working Americans lost all their jobs, and this is China's fault because they flooded America with their cheap goods. The film honestly does not go any deeper than that. It is basically patriotic, chest-beating Americanism. If you are curious how Americans perceive themselves, watch this movie. If you are curious about the decline of America or China's role in said decline, or perhaps if you are curious how international trade works or maybe globalisation, you are much better served by staying far, far away from this disappointing film. No new perspectives are offered, nothing intelligent is said, and no solution is provided.

The documentary "Death by China" (2012) based upon Peter Navarro's book by the same title offers interesting insights into the disparity in trade between the United States and the Peoples' Republic of China (Communist China). Narrated by Martin Sheen, the film presents statistical information in conjunction with interviews with business leaders and scholars to trace the history of growing trade disparities between the USA and China in a propaganda-style format. The documentary places the blame for the loss of massive numbers of manufacturing sector jobs in the United States during the past two decades squarely upon the government of Communist China and, recently, also upon allegedly collusive large multinational corporations which formerly maintained a specifically American nexus. Since President Clinton announced China's admission into the World Trade Organization (the WTO) near the end of his second term in office, a significant trade imbalance developed which now threatens the survival of many important manufacturing sectors in the United States.Although "Death by China" functions as propaganda in the sense that it draws a connection between the loss of many manufacturing jobs in the United States and ongoing blatant trade violations by the government of China, it does not overlook several additional social and political issues which ought to concern citizens of both the United States and China. The documentary specifically takes issue with Chinese governmental policies-- not with the people of either nation.Peripheral topics include: pervasive industrial pollution problems in China threatening the health and well being of the Chinese population, exploitative and corrupt Chinese labor practices, efforts by China to censor foreign companies, currency manipulations by the Chinese Communist regime, safety concerns about some consumer products manufactured in China and a reported significant buildup of the Chinese military following the establishment of peaceful trading relations with the USA. However, the bulk of the film addresses the diminished manufacturing capacity of the United States. Since economic imbalances sometimes represent a forerunner to significant geopolitical changes, people might want to pay attention to this unsettling documentary even if they do maintain a skeptical attitude about the trade disparity issue. The documentary begs a hard question: Did China's government join the WTO during the Clinton Administration in order to benefit the Chinese economy by engaging in fair trade or in order to initiate a form of economic warfare?

The documentary can best be described as an hour long infomercial for the UAW.While there are some valid points as to the loss of U.S. manufacturing due to uneven trade with China the past ten years the film fails to focus on NAFTA passed during the 90's and even farther back during the 70's,80's time period when the term "Rust Belt" came about as manufacturing disappeared. Both the U.S. and China are cheating when it comes to trade within the World Trade Organization. The United States gave tens of billions to GM and Chrysler in rescue funds,$500 million loan to bankrupt Solyndra, and billions more to companies like Boeing and General electric all of which China views as illegal Government subsidies. China could make an hour long movie titled Death by America which demonstrates how the U.S. is in violation of fair trade. I do believe that a revival in U.S. manufacturing is possible, but it will in no way resemble the manufacturing that are Dads and Grandfathers knew....