Chimerica

In an interview room in Beijing, Zhang Lin sits opposite a guard from the Chinese Public Safety Bureau (PSB). The guard hands Zhang Lin a statement to sign, hinting that if the PSB has to bring him in again, they’ll take him prisoner. The guard reminds Zhang Lin that the article he wrote is considered illegal for “inciting unrest,” even though the government has already taken it down. Showing Zhang Lin an annotated copy of his article, the guard firmly corrects his data: rather than the dangerously high pollution reading of 801 that Zhang Lin cited from the American embassy, the “correct” reading is the Chinese government’s number of 190. The guard also repeatedly corrects Zhang Lin’s usage of the word “smog” to “fog,” insisting that the pollution is actually just “weather.”

Zhang Lin agrees with the guard and offers to retract his article, but the guard tells him that that won’t help. He tells Zhang Lin that the government is putting effective regulations in place to handle the “fog” in Beijing and orders him one more time to sign the statement in front of him. He wants to “help [Zhang Lin] be happy.” As Zhang Lin looks at the statement, Liuli appears and gazes at him. Zhang Lin doesn’t sign the statement; instead, he tells the guard that “the happiest people are the ones who are best at lying to themselves.” The guard slowly picks up the unsigned statement, takes back the pen, and orders Zhang Lin to take off his shoes.