From the New Year, China Takes Control of State Affairs... From Spy Extermination Comics to Corruption Confession Documentaries

Secret Special Investigation Unit Anime Released
Corruption Case Interview Also Draws Attention

Chinese authorities have repeatedly emphasized the slogans of eradicating corruption and espionage since the New Year. They have produced an anti-espionage animation aimed at children and also aired a documentary featuring confessions of corruption.

According to the Chinese state-run Global Times (GT) on the 7th, the Chinese Ministry of State Security released an animated series called "Secret Special Investigation Department (SPD)" on its official social media service (SNS) that day. GT explained that this is the first time an animation series has been created by adapting real cases of frontline counter-espionage operations with national security as the core theme in China.

Photo by Global Times (GT)

GT introduced the first episode as investigating an incident that occurred in the Xishan mining area, noting that some episodes include scenes where Westerners are investigated on suspicion of violating espionage laws. Li Wei, a researcher at the China think tank Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on the same day, "The cartoon series is visually appealing to teenagers and children," emphasizing, "After watching the cartoons, the younger generation’s awareness of national security can be better cultivated."

Recently, China has produced and presented several films and TV series related to national security, such as "Eye of the Storm," "Silence," "Enemy," and "Spy Game." GT stated, "The goal is to continuously enhance public awareness of national security and integrate it into the lives of the people."

During the first weekend of the New Year, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission attracted attention by airing a corruption eradication documentary titled "Continuous Efforts and In-depth Promotion," jointly produced with China Central Television (CCTV). The four-part documentary selected 12 representative corruption cases and was produced in the form of interviews with discipline inspection and supervisory officials, experts, and the involved corrupt individuals.

Notably, the corruption cases include those involving Li Tie, former head coach of the Chinese national football team; Zhang Fusheng, former deputy director of the Fire and Rescue Department of the Ministry of Emergency Management; Pan Yifei, former deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China; Chen Xuyuan, former president of the Chinese Football Association; Zhang Xiaofei, chief political advisor of Jilin Province; and Wang Dawei, former director of the Public Security Department of Liaoning Province. The series specifically revealed bribes they received, such as gold bars, jade, and the famous Maotai liquor, and through interviews obtained confessions like "I vaguely remember who gave it to me."

According to GT, from January to September last year, the Chinese discipline inspection and supervisory agencies received 470,000 corruption cases, and the number of individuals punished for illegal acts reached 405,000.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.