'Chinese Intelligence Unit' Tortures Japanese Agents... China Bristles at "Demonization" in Popular Drama

Japan's Spy Drama "VIVANT" Casts China as the Enemy
China's State-Run CCTV: "Cognitive Warfare That Demonizes China"
China-Japan Ties Frozen for a Year Since Taiwan Remarks

Backlash is growing in China after season 2 of the drama "VIVANT," about a secret intelligence unit within Japan's Self-Defense Forces, cast China as an enemy nation.

Season 2 of the drama "VIVANT," about a secret intelligence organization within Japan's Self-Defense Forces. TBS official website.

On the 25th, China's state-run CCTV criticized the drama as "cognitive warfare that demonizes China and stokes hostility." Referring to a torture scene, CCTV said it was "similar to the torture used by the Japanese military against Chinese anti-Japanese activists in the past." It argued that the drama projected such scenes onto modern-day Chinese people and portrayed Japanese agents as righteous avengers, reversing the historical roles of aggressor and victim.

CCTV also claimed that the drama naturally legitimizes Japan's overseas intelligence and military activities and blurs the scope of the Self-Defense Forces' role through popular culture. The controversy became the top trending search term on China's social media platform Weibo that same day.

'VIVANT' Casts China as Enemy... A Hit in Japan with an 18.8% Rating

A scene from Season 2 of the drama "VIVANT," which tells the story of Bepan, an intelligence unit of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, confronting an enemy nation (China). Instagram

"VIVANT" tells the story of "Betsuhan," a Self-Defense Forces intelligence unit whose existence is unknown even to the defense minister, as it takes on enemy nations. Season 1 featured a fictional enemy nation, but season 2 explicitly identifies China as the enemy. In a recent episode, China's intelligence unit "Shinshi" tortured Betsuhan agents and stabbed them in the stomach.

The drama is popular in Japan. Season 2, which began airing on July 26, recorded a household rating of 18.8% for its first episode. Some have praised as refreshing the premise that the Self-Defense Forces, which had been deployed for earthquake relief and other purposes, also have special agents like those in Hollywood movies.

However, some have voiced concerns. A viewer reportedly submitted a comment to a Japanese broadcasting standards review body saying, "It airs at 9 p.m., and it will have a negative effect on children's development." Members of the body also remarked at a meeting that "this series has more intense scenes than the earlier season." In a column, the local publication "Modern Business" criticized the drama, saying it "is planting dangerous perceptions in viewers' subconscious minds."

The drama draws on suspicions that emerged in 2013, when Japan's Kyodo News reported that "the Ground Self-Defense Force operates a secret overseas intelligence unit called 'Betsuhan.'" The report sparked ongoing debate among viewers over whether the organization actually exists.

Amid Testimony That They "Just Played at Being Spies," Controversy Also Erupts Over Civilian Information Gathering

The Japanese government has consistently denied the existence of Betsuhan since the report came out. Former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who previously served as defense minister, joked in an interview when he was a lawmaker in 2023, the year season 1 aired: "I can't say whether it exists or not, because I've never seen it myself." Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said at a regular press conference in July, "It has never existed and does not exist now. Though I like the drama."

The actual intelligence unit within the Self-Defense Forces is the Ground Self-Defense Force's "Local Intelligence Unit." Japan's Mainichi Shimbun interviewed a former member of the unit and reported that "their activities amounted to meeting Japanese professors who specialized in specific countries, getting their business cards, and recording details about their personal backgrounds and preferences item by item." The former member also told the Mainichi, "It was nothing more than playing at being spies."

This also sparked controversy over surveillance of civilians. In July, the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun reported that the Local Intelligence Unit had "systematically collected information on the beliefs and private lives of thousands of civilians, including university professors, such as their 'patriotism' and 'sexual preferences.'" Defense Minister Koizumi denied the report, saying, "There has been no confirmation that members disguised their identities to gather information."

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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. AP-Yonhap News

The controversy erupted as relations between China and Japan had been frozen for nearly a year. In November last year, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told the Diet that "a contingency involving Taiwan could become a situation threatening Japan's survival." It was the first time a sitting Japanese prime minister had officially mentioned the possibility of exercising the right to collective self-defense in the event of a Taiwan contingency. China has demanded that she retract the remarks and applied pressure by advising its citizens against traveling to Japan, suspending imports of Japanese seafood, and restricting rare-earth exports.

Tensions between the two countries continue. On September 30, China's Foreign Ministry stirred controversy by referring to Prime Minister Takaichi by name only, without her title. It is also uncertain whether a China-Japan summit meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' meeting, scheduled for November 18-19 in Shenzhen, China.

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