Four-Part ‘Power in the Pacific’ on KCET: Vim on the Rim : Television: The growing influence of Japan dominates this report on economic developments in Pacific Rim countries.

According to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, the majority of Americans fear he economic power of Japan more than the possibility of nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

The rapid shift in economic might between the United States and Japan is just one of many relatively new developments among Pacific Rim countries detailed in “Power in the Pacific,” a four-part series which begins tonight at 10 p.m. on PBS station KCET Channel 28.

“It’s one thing to buy products from a certain region of the world; it’s another thing when (the Japanese) start becoming your bankers, and your landowners--your landlords,” said Blaine Baggett, KCET’s director of national public affairs and American executive producer of the series, a co-production of KCET and the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “And that’s what’s happening, particularly in California.

“The United States is afraid of this awesome power that Japan has, and what they will do with it,” Baggett added. “Because we don’t know--we really don’t know.”

Joseph Angier, American producer of the series, said the programs will track the postwar military and economic factors which led to the new and uneasy relationship of Japan and the U.S., as well as their effect on less powerful countries of the Pacific.

“The United States’ trade deficit is being financed by Japan--Japan has become the U.S.’ banker,” Angier said. “The health of the U.S. economy is very much dependent on (such factors as) the price of Tokyo real estate.

“ ‘Why should I care whether my mortgage is with the Bank of Tokyo or Chase Manhattan?’ Yeah, you might not care. But you should know that your interest rate is being decided in Tokyo, and not in New York.”

The series, completed in May, does not document Japan’s most recent economic woes. Since the beginning of the year, the Tokyo stock market has experienced a steep decline for the first time in five years.

Angier said that, while the series does not figure Japan’s new financial troubles into the global equation, what has happened since the programs were completed only serves to prove their point. “It doesn’t invalidate anything (in the series),” he said. “It shows that the American economy is vulnerable, and we’ll see higher interest rates in the United States because of what’s happening in Japan.

“Their own stock market is hurting, and we, by extension, are hurting. Now that they are not there with their checkbooks at the ready, we have to face up to the fact that we have to put our own house in order.”

Tonight’s installment, “Dreams of China,” examines the way the United States’ changed relationship with China--as an ally in the first half of the century, and as an enemy following the Communist revolution--led two former bitter enemies, the U.S. and Japan, to join forces against Communism.

The second episode, “Japan Comes First,” airing Oct. 23, studies Japan’s economic rise and its effect on the rest of the countries of the Pacific. The third program, “The Nuclear Northwest,” invites political and military leaders to discuss reasons why countries in the Pacific region have to this date failed to reach a state of disarmament.

Finally, Nov. 11’s “Power Without Purpose” studies the fear that Japan’s money has caused in the United States and elsewhere--and suggests that the world’s economy would plunge into disaster without a continued peaceful partnership between the United States and Japan.

“Power in the Pacific” is among the first wave of programs completed through the Pacific Rim Co-production Assn., uniting 13 PBS stations in the United States with public broadcasting stations of the other English-speaking nations of the Pacific--Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Initiated in 1988, the group was created to stimulate co-productions between the nations and encourage more exploration of Pacific Rim issues, in the same way PBS stations have joined with forces with European broadcasting entities, especially the BBC, for co-productions in the past.

“The Pacific is becoming a much more dynamic region, and we wanted to get together to pool our funds and resources,” Harry Bardwell, Australian executive producer of “Power in the Pacific,” said of the PacRim Assn.

The PacRim Assn. does not yet include Japan and other non-English-speaking countries of the region--although spokespersons for member stations have said they hope to add those countries in the future.

However, some PBS stations have already entered into co-productions with Japan independently. Maryland Public Television has completed “Mini Dragons,” a four-part series about Taiwan, Singapore, Korea and Hong Kong which it co-produced with Japan’s NHK and Film Australia; they plan another series for next season, “Mini Dragons Part II,” to feature Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Seattle PBS station KCTS recently joined with NHK to produce a weekly half-hour news program, “Asia Now,” which originates live from Tokyo.

Bardwell said the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) approached KCET about working together on “Power in the Pacific.” The first three episodes were produced by the Australians, and the final installment by KCET. ABC put up three-fourths of the $1.2 million budget for the series. Both producers call “Power in the Pacific” their first “true” co-production because the two countries actually shared production duties, rather than simply sharing the cost of producing a series in one country.

KCET’s Baggett acknowledged that ABC’s available money and resources had as much to do with the station’s decision to participate as interest in the topic. “We are very, very interested in Pacific Rim issues, and are pursuing them vigorously--but whether this series would have been done (without ABC) is questionable.

“What we basically have gotten is four (programs) for the price of one hour, which is the magic of co-production.”

Bardwell said that, while ABC has larger production facilities than KCET, the American station was able to provide better access to American archival research than the Australians might have gotten on their own. For Australia’s part of the bargain, he added: “We have a very good knowledge of Southeast Asia--it’s our back yard, so to speak, we’re very used to working there.”

And both Bardwell and KCET’s Angier said the alliance of one superpower, the United States, with Australia, a smaller and less influential participant in the region’s economy, lends a broader perspective to their study of Pacific history.

“As Americans, we tend to see everything as a bilateral problem--America versus somebody else,” said Angier. “I think this show took on a more regional focus, and forced me to think about things in a way I might not have. This country tends to be very Americocentric.”