‘This is seriously bold’: How China turned Taiwan tensions into a top-rating TV spy drama
Dismissed in Taiwan as simply propaganda, the Long Watch, or Jiaofeng, has proved a sensation across the strait with its references to real-life crises
TL;DR
- "The Long Watch" (Jiaofeng) is a 40-episode Chinese spy drama co-produced by the Ministry of State Security.
- The series dramatizes intelligence operations and tensions between China and Taiwan from the mid-1990s.
- It mixes fictional characters and locations with real ones, such as Taipei.
- Chinese viewers have found the series unusually bold for addressing real political figures and espionage details.
- The drama has achieved high ratings and significant online viewership in China.
- Taiwanese viewers and analysts largely dismiss the series as propaganda, with little discussion evident on Taiwanese social media.
- Taiwan produced its own successful drama, "Zero Day Attack," about cross-strait security threats last year.