King in Beijing

A PLAY ABOUT THE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER APPEARS (CAUTIOUSLY) IN BEIJING.


In “Found in Translation,” Howard French delves into the difficulties of bringing a play about Martin Luther King Jr. to Beijing. In theory, the Communist capital welcomes talk of King’s work as a blow for the masses against American imperialism; but as French points out, the Chinese government “insists that racism and discrimination are purely problems of decadent Western societies.” It’s worth reading to see how the Chinese government—so bent on improving its image abroad—is having difficulty living up to its image at home.