Inside the Banker's Brain

Summary: Promoting growth and protecting the environment is a contradiction, says Chinese ambassador Chen Mingming, insisting that the opulent lifestyle of "people overseas" should figure into any assessment of his country's environmental policies. "Isn't it legitimate for the Chinese to seek the same quality of life? That means economic development." Others who support the government's approach to ecological problems also appear in this film, such as political observer Xie Chuntao-although he does acknowledge tangible policy splits within China's leadership and the difficulty of balancing environmental protection with the constant need for energy and raw materials. For a less ambivalent view, the film turns to activist Chen Faqing as he meets with angry suburbanites outside Hangzhou-a supposedly "model city" now plagued by factory pollution. With protests and potentially violent confrontations like these brewing across China, will the government seek a new way forward?