China’s One Child Policy | The Secret of my Success
A unique portrayal of China's One Child Policy and its idea of democracy
Winner of the IDFA silver Wolf in 2002, this highly acclaimed Chinese documentary by Duan Jinchuan gives unique insight into China’s idea of democracy and the realities of the one child policy. The documentary is part of the Interesting Times series about the opening of China.
Policy meets practice in Fanshen, a rural village in northeast China. Fanshen is about to hold its village council elections. One of the leading candidates is Mr Lu’s who also happens to be a birth control official. Not only his credibility but also his job is at stake when an ILLEGALLY PREGNANT woman disappears.
For the West the Opening of China resulted in a deception
Despite the film’s dated release, The Secret of my Success, is still a very relevant documentary today. At the surface the film is an engaging portrait of China’s one child policy, but beneath it reveals China’s idea of democracy. At the time, the film was received with great enthousiasm as Western critics believed that they were witnessing the opening of China. Duan Jinchuan, the Chinese director, had beautifully applied cinema verite style – a typical western documentary concept – to portray the daily politics of small time roque, a politician and a birth control officer in a small village in China. Smilingly, most Western viewers regarded the film as a clever portrayal of China’s first unsure steps towards candor and democracy. But, with hindsight, that was not what the film was about.
In Western thinking it was a common view in the late 1990s that China, so far, had been on a deviant path from the more normal political evolution that the U S and Western Europe were on. Yet, everyone was convinced that China would become more democratic as it got richer. However, what we’ve seen in the past 40 years, is that China has presented this continuous alternative – autocratic – model to our own. And, depending on how one defines success, their model is very successful.
Now, almost 20-years later, we know that The Secret of My Success does not portray China’s first unsure steps towards democracy, but China’s idea of democracy. In the New World Order China is promoting this idea all around the world.
China's One Child Policy
With over 1.3 billion inhabitants, twenty years ago China’s birth control policy played an important role in its struggle against overpopulation. The one child policy promoted couples having only one child in rural and urban areas. However, parents with multiple births are given the same benefits as parents of one child. The limit has been strongly enforced in urban areas, but the actual implementation varies from location to location. In most rural areas, families are allowed to have two children if the first child is female or disabled. Second children are subject to birth spacing (usually 3 or 4 years). Additional children will result in large fines: families violating the policy are required to pay monetary penalties and might be denied bonuses at their workplace. Children born in overseas countries are not counted under the policy if they do not obtain Chinese citizenship. Chinese citizens returning from abroad can have a second child.
Chronology of China's One Child Policy
Interesting Times | About the Series
Interesting Times is a much celebrated four part series showing different aspects of life in China at the start of the millenium. THE WAR OF LOVE is a portrait of a marriage broker. SHAO’S LONG MARCH is about the Chinese army. THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS shows how Chinese politics are implemented in the countryside. And THIS HAPPY LIFE aims to define the concept of political education in China. The series was made as a result of a workshop at the IDFA forum
Scenes
- Birth Quota per Village
- One-Child-Policy in China has been controversial from the beginning. In this scene the pregnancy of a woman is discovered eventhough it is unclear if she is permitted to have yet another child. Mr. Lu, the birth control officer, is not sure what to do about it. His village qouta is only 8 children per year. If he wants to keep his job, he should allow no more births this year.
- A Problem
- There are some exeptions within the policy about having one child. Couples whose first child is a daugher may try again for a boy. Now, however, a woman called Chunmong has fled the village after becoming pregnant for the third time. Her first two children were daughters and appearantly she still wants a boy. Son preference is a big problem within child policy in China. Financial and social wellbeing are secured when a son is born.
- Pressuring the Family
- The family of the illigally pregnant woman is pressured by the officials. They have to pay a fine for every day that she is missing. The shocking part of this conversation is that they are planning to force an abortion without any regard considering the state of the fetus.
- Blame
- During the search Mrs. Li is angry at her officials. They have not regulated any birhts and do not take family planning seriously as a state directive. It seems difficult to control the natural process of pregnany with unnatural measures.
- Storm
- The runaway pregnant woman is not the only storm going on in the village. Mrs Li, the village head, has sold village land and trees to family for a bargain price. An election conspiracy is forged.
- Town Meeting
- There must be a Village Counsil Election because of the mishap from Mrs Li. In this meeting the concept of voting is explained. Not everyone agrees with or understands the procedure. Similarly the village’s financial report is not clear to the people. Appearantly everyone disagrees with each other, there is no clear order or procedure followed.
- Personal Gain
- Personal gain is the only thing on the minds of the officials: “Conspiracies are normal here” Mr Lu claims.
- Love Life of Mr Lu
- Mr Lu, like many political officials, is keen on keeping his position. He also has a wife and mistress to take care of.
- Fixing the Election
- Mr Tan has a group of loyal officials who are trying to fix the election for him. If he wants to become the new village head, the National Committee, who has come to supervise, has to approve of the procedure of the election. Absentee voting becomes a serious issue of debate.
- Life as Normal Continues
- Roads need to be repaired, and babies to be counted. Chunrong has returned to the village with her illigal third child, a baby boy. She is to undergo a sterilization procedure immidiately.
- Mr Lu’s Secret
- Mr Lu believes he is a honest man and will one day run for Village Head. His strong belief in his contribution to daily life in his township seems to be the secret to his success.
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