Felix Greene
| |
|---|---|
Felix Greene in 1968
| |
| Born | 21 May 1909 |
| Died | 15 June 1985(1985-06-15) (aged 76) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Relatives | Graham Greene (cousin) |
Felix Greene (21 May 1909 – 15 June 1985) was a British journalist who chronicled several communist countries in the 1960s and 1970s.
He was one of the first Western reporters to visit North Vietnam when he travelled there for the San Francisco Chronicle in the 1960s. He first visited China for the BBC in 1957.
Greene later produced documentary films, including One Man's China, Tibet, Cuba va!, Vietnam! Vietnam! and Inside North Viet Nam. Right-wing critics have accused these films of presenting a one-sided view of communist society.[1] The Wall Street Journal argued that Greene purposely hid negative information about the extent of starvation in China[2] and called him a "fellow traveller."[3]
Commander R. W. Herrick of the U.S. Navy reviewed A Curtain of IgnoranceinNaval War College Review, writing, "There can be no question but that [Greene] set out deliberately to 'prove' his contentions that practically everything having to do with Communist China and its policies is good, while Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist regimes are unmitigatedly bad. ... Yet, once the reader understands and allows for this bias, this book is eminently worth reading." Herrick agreed with Greene's observation that "... on matters where great national feelings are aroused, scholars and experts are just as likely as the rest of us to allow their judgments to be swayed by the prevailing climate of opinion." He found the chapters on Nationalist China and the China Lobby to be provocative reading.[4]
In the 1970s, Greene went to Dharamsala to visit the 14th Dalai Lama, who recalled that after three days of discussion, Greene's attitude had changed.[5][6]
Greene lived in the San Francisco area for 20 years and died in Mexico of cancer. He was a cousin of the author Graham Greene.[7]
Greene's films and photos are distributed by Contemporary Films.
Felix Green who was quite a close friend to the late Zhou Enlai of China. Mr. Greene had visited China regularly for many years and had great faith in both the country and in Communism. He came to Dharamsala with several films, hoping to show me how happy people were in Tibet, and to explain that things were not as bad as we, the Tibetans in exile, believed. He tried to convince me that everything was okay in my country. We talked and argued for three or four days. After many hours of discussion, he finally changed his attitude on most points. In such cases, a good argument based on sincere motivation can produce a positive result, provided both parties strive to be objective. It is very helpful to talk, talk, talk, until a solution is found.
| International |
|
|---|---|
| National |
|
| Other |
|
