Diplomatic Situation 外交风云
The winds and clouds of China's diplomacy
China has prided itself on diplomacy.
In 2018 I spent many months filming a CCTV1 episodic series called ‘Diplomatic Situation’ 外交风云 that followed China's diplomatic relations with the outside world between 1948-1976.
Fast forward to 2023, and China's diplomacy is still in play. China just brokered a historic truce between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The epic series was made to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. It’s a 48-episodic, fact-driven drama about a nation that is building a new future and the relations that they are fostering with international leaders.
In order to re-enact actual events, actors were hired from all around the world. I was hired to play Pat Nixon, the wife of Richard Nixon, US president from 1969-1974.
It was a small role but I was very honored to play a historic figure in the recreation of Nixon’s visit in 1972. Many of the scenes felt monumental with the attention to detail to echo historic footage. It took almost 2 hours each time to create the hairstyle similar to Pat Nixon and costuming was accurate down to the accessories.
Major moments in Chinese modern history are covered which include the Geneva Conference, Bandung Conference, Zhou Enlai's visit to Africa, China's restoration of the seat in the United Nations, Nixon’s visit in 1972.
The production was of epic proportions.
The production team built replica interiors of the White House, the Kremlin, the UN Palais des Nations and the planes and trains that were in service at that time.
The cast and crew also traveled to several cities including Beijing, Yantai in Shandong province and Dalian in Liaoning province, and to Russia, France, Switzerland and the United States for filming.
"We had more than 50,000 actors, including over 100 foreigners, 50,000 props and 1,000 sets," says Song Yeming, director of the drama.
The production team decided to strive for their first choices of actors and actresses from the very beginning, choosing Tang Guoqiang 唐国强 to play Mao and Sun Weimin 孙维民 to play Zhou Enlai.
I was honored to work with both actors. Both highly respected and very well-known for portraying historical figures in many films and television series.
"Diplomatic Situation" won the best TV series at the 30th China TV Golden Eagle Awards held in Changsha in 2020 . Its screenwriter Ma Jihong took the Best Screenplay Award.
China is forging the path to promote peace with it’s foreign policy of brokering peace and stability around the world.
The winds of Chinese diplomacy are forging global change.
You can watch the series on YouTube. English subtitles have been added.
Read China Daily article HERE
Read about the 30th China TV Golden Eagle Awards HERE
Read article on China Is Reinventing Itself as a Peace Broker HERE