Shanghaiist Sunday Show: They Chose China

If you were a fan of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Shui-Bo Wang's Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square, you will also love his feature documentary, They Chose China, which tells the story of some of the 21 American soldiers who chose to stay in China after the signing of the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement. The film features some fascinating archival footage from China (watch out for the mini-Olympics held in the POW camps), American television clips and interviews with David Hawkins, the youngest of the group of defectors who is still alive today. Two other former POWs that feature heavily in this documentary are Clarence Adams, a black soldier from Memphis who chose to stay in China because of racial discrimination back home, and James Veneris, who became an avowed Communist, married, had children, and lived here till his death.

Haven't had enough? Watch previous Shanghaiist Sunday Shows here.