IN the 'Quarry Bay' column (Sunday Morning Post, February 11) it was mentioned with a smile that China will be preparing for release on July 1, 1997 a major film, The Opium War.
A few readers may recall a similar kind of film Beijing released in the autumn of 1983.
It was called, The Burning of the Summer Palace and presented a view of the Boxer Rebellion period in the late Qing Dynasty when an international military expedition was sent to break the siege of the Foreign Legation Quarter in Beijing.
The film arrived for China's National Day celebrations during a particularly acrimonious patch in Sino-British negotiations on Hong Kong's future.
The premier was held in the old Astor Theatre. Invited guests, both Chinese and non-Chinese, were seated in the balcony, while ordinary folk took the seats downstairs.
Every evil foreign stereotype was featured in the movie including an overweight, alcohol-swilling, foul-smelling, red-haired, stubble-bearded, loud-mouth, arrogant English soldier/diplomat.