The New World : China through the eyes of Israeli TV

People have been asking me what I think of this show, and till yesterday I didn’t get a chance to see it. “New World” is an Israeli TV show from Channel 10 and nana with the wonderful Nitzan Horovitz who tries to envision the new world we’re going into, and the first episode – yeah, you guessed it, is about China with the explosive title “The Chinese Century”.

It’s really neat that all the episodes of the show were placed on the net, encouraging reader interaction :

What did other Israelis have to say about the show?

1. The New World for us as Jews is to follow God’s word, blessed be thy name, but, I do have to say that this is a fascinating interesting show, thanks for putting it on the net for those who don’t have TVs at home so that we can see a bit more of what’s happening in the world.
2. Nitzan is the new world. I usually don’t comment but I feel I have to say Nitzan Horovitz is talented, fascinating and intelligent, what ever he’ll sell me I’ll buy (slang phrase). In short – thanks Nitzan…
3. Way to go on the initiative.

And the compliments go on and on that you have to suspect some strict moderation. Yet, it is a good show,very fluent, showing some great shots with a very clear message – the new world is about the shift of power from the traditional American super power to the Asian giants – India and China.

Nitzan in China is like a kid that just walked in to Disney World and what an experience that is. He would, every once in a while, briefly mention the challenges and the problems, but would overwhelm them with superlatives that would make Chinese government blush. Everything is impressive, unreal, unimaginable, unheard of, unprecedented. Nitzan mentions 3 times throughout the first episode that after seeing China with his own eyes he’s completely convinced that the Chinese will continue to move forward towards leading our world, there’s no doubt about that. Future is in China, and you have almost an hour of film to show you why – how they build things, how they prepare for the Olympics, how they achieve their goals with precision, how they manufacture etc. All possible cliches combined into one.

It was enjoyable watching the TV show, but I think the only authentic analysis with a saying about what’s really happening with China was through an interview  done with Prof. Kenneth Lieberthal who keeps impressing me everytime I listen. First time I heard him lecture it was in the Hebrew University East Asian center opening ceremony and I recommend it as a short indepth analysis of China (there’s also a summary).

I believe Nitzan’s enthusiasm about China, with what he’s showing I feel it’s impossible not to be impressed, but as a reporter debating “the new world” I wonder whether a very positive almost naive travel & business ad for China is the right way to go about it. No doubt is will be easier for the average Israeli to watch.