Beijing, Oct. 28 (Jiji Press)–Chinese media outlets have criticized the popular Japanese television drama “Vivant,” claiming that it excessively portrays China as a threat. Vivant features a fictional secret intelligence unit of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. Depicted scenes include Chinese intelligence agents cutting off the fingers of a member of the Japanese unit. The Global Times, the English-language edition of the Huanqiu Shibao, a newspaper affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, said in its Monday edition, “Such acts bear striking similarities to the torture inflicted on Chinese nationals by invading Japanese troops during World War II.” The paper quoted China Central Television as saying that the drama “subtly glorifies Japan’s cross-border overseas operations, blurs the functional boundaries of the SDF and implicitly promotes an expansionist narrative.” The second season of Vivant has been airing on Japanese broadcaster Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc. since July. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
