THEY CHOSE CHINA
Monday April 7, 2008 at 10pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld
Meet the POWs who refused to return home.
At the end of the Korean War in 1954, captured UN soldiers held in POW camps were free to return home. Those soldiers who refused repatriation to their homeland were transferred to a neutral zone and given 90 days to reconsider their decision. Surprisingly, among them are 21 American soldiers who defiantly decided to stay in China. They Chose China recounts these soldiers' stories.
When McCarthyism was at its height, many Americans believed these young men had been brainwashed by Chinese communists through a new form of thought control. But what really happened? They Chose China features never-before-seen footage from the Chinese camps as well as interviews with former POWs and their families, to tell the fascinating stories of these forgotten American dissidents.
Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Shui-Bo Wang, They Chose China captures this astonishing story as viewers meet and begin to understand this group of courageous men who fought for, and then cut ties with, the USA.
They Chose China is produced by Claude Bonin for the National Film board of Canada.