China espionage thriller to focus filmgoers on national security

HONG KONG, Jan 23 (Reuters) – China's first big feature film focused on contemporary national security is being released for Lunar New Year box office crowds as the government looks to ramp up awareness of the risks of foreign espionage. In the film "Jingzhe Wusheng", known in English as "Scare Out", information about China's latest fighter jet is leaked, prompting a thrilling cat-and-mouse game that pits national security officers against a spy. Filmed mainly in China's booming tech hub of Shenzhen, the movie is being promoted in Chinese media as the country's first feature film to focus on contemporary national security. Guided by China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), the fictional plot aims to push issues such as counter-espionage and secrecy into mainstream popular culture, China's Central Television (CCTV) said. MSS has previously produced or influenced television dramas and documentaries on national security, but this is the first potential blockbuster with a Lunar New Year release. That is the peak movie-going season that typically produces record-setting revenues and draws families and young people to cinemas in large numbers. Directed by internationally acclaimed film director Zhang Yimou, and starring local celebrities Yi Yangqianxi and Zhu Yilong, the film showcases a tense spy-hunting operation against the backdrop of Shenzhen's futuristic skyline. The framing and narrative of the movie fit into China's broader soft power strategy of using cinema to promote national security narratives in a modern and urban setting. Official news agency Xinhua said that in recent years foreign espionage has been active frequently and counter-espionage is "no longer a distant topic." The film focuses on the "current hidden front, and counter-espionage and counter-infiltration has become an unavoidable proposition of the times, which is closely related to each of us," Xinhua said. Beijing has in recent years placed renewed emphasis on cultural influence and "telling China's story well," linking China's soft power to broader national goals. China's President Xi Jinping has called for strengthening China's international narrative and for presenting an image of China that is "credible, appealing and respectable," according to official readouts and state media including newspaper China Daily. China has rapidly modernised its military, producing new aircraft, ships and missiles even as a corruption crackdown is underway. China's People's Liberation Army was one of the main targets of a broader corruption crackdown ordered by Xi in 2012, reaching the upper levels of the military in 2023 when its Rocket Force was targeted. (Reporting by Farah Master and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Jamie Freed)

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