The New Pacific is ostensibly post-colonial, but colonial influence remains in the form of investments, technology transfer, and in the activities of multinationals. The problems of the newly independent countries are how to utilize foreign know-how, while maintaining control of domestic affairs. The French are particularly unpopular for hanging onto colonial territories, a feeling aggravated by nuclear testing at Moruora which has led to proposals for a nuclear-free Pacific. This film examines the attempts to produce unity within an area of unparallelled cultural diversity whose future growth depends on the partnership of countries north and south of the Equator.

This film looks back on the Pacific War starting in 1941 and at its aftermath. There was such outrage at the behavior of the Japanese during the war that militarism was a dirty word until only recently. The new generation of Japanese, who have no personal memory of the wartime atrocities, have staged missions to collect bones of the war dead in Saipan and, underwater in Truk Lagoon where 65 wrecked Japanese ships were sunk. All in order to honour their wartime dead.

Pacific tourism is booming but often tourists destroy the very thing they come to see. In Papua New Guinea, a warlike people recently converted from cannibalism to Christianity, transform their pagan art into tourist souvenirs. Hawaii has four million tourists a year, but the industry is run by Japanese and Americans, and the last people to benefit are the native Hawaiians. Dismay has turned to anger, as they watch their culture being exploited by others. In Bali however, it's a different story. The Hindu religion has kept the missionaries at a distance, and the traditional culture is able to accommodate half a million tourists a year and even benefit from their presence.

The electronic media are rapidly shrinking the vast distances of the Pacific and making human isolation a thing of the past. Satellite television and video cassettes have reached the remotest Pacific island, but they are a mixed blessing. Films and videos are usually packaged in Los Angeles, Tokyo, or London and they are often aggressively commercial. To island leaders they are 'electronic imperialism', to the Chinese 'spiritual pollution'. There is a danger that the people of the Pacific will imitate what they see on TV and abandon their own traditional way of doing things, but today there is cause for optimism. The Japanese have shown that foreign ideas may be imported without losing national identity and others are determined to follow their lead. Throughout the islands of the South Pacific, the people are rallying to the defence of their language and culture.

In schools and universities around the Pacific there is a strong need for people to emphasise national identity in a multicultural environment. Native languages must be preserved but Pacific countries are often obliged to teach science and technology in English. There are dangers of educating for jobs which don't exist. Often, a country's national aspirations are reflected in its schools and newly independent nations which have inherited the education systems of their colonisers are gradually transforming them to serve local needs.

The marriage rituals of the Pacific are seen as keys to an understanding of social attitudes. This programme compares weddings in China, Korea, Japan, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga. In Japan the ceremony is half Western, half traditional (Shinto). In Hawaii, a Japanese couple are united in a Salvation Army chapel by an American missionary, who marries on couple every 30 minutes. In Tonga, we watch a royal wedding.

Each of the world's major religions is found in the Pacific -- Islam in Indonesia, Buddhism in Korea and Japan, Hinduism in Fiji and Bali, and Christianity throughout the South Pacific. Everywhere animism survives, often hiding within the ritual of Buddhism or Christianity. Also at work are Mormons, missionaries, and Eastern gurus and mystics. What will become of this mixing of faiths from East and West?

Underlying the economic miracles of Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan is the philosophy and code of behaviour of Confucianism which originated in China 2500 years ago. Now in China once again the people accept authority, hard work and self-sacrifice in the interest of national prosperity. This programme compares the technological progress of China with that of Japan.