Popular TV series pays tribute to unsung national security heroes

For screenwriter Wang Xiaoqiang, time was the sharpest "weapon" when crafting The Long Watch, an espionage drama about China's national security affairs.

Spanning the late 1990s to 2015, the story uses a 20-year timeline to show how ordinary people's lives and fates are shaped by changing times — and how some emerge as heroes while others become spies and betray their country, Wang said at a recent seminar in Beijing.

One of the season's popular dramas, the 40-episode series opens with a 1990s case involving the leak of information about military equipment related to foreign countries. Ma Qi, a veteran state security investigator, is assigned to lead the investigation. But during an arrest operation at a dock, Lin Kanshan, an overseas spy, manages to escape — setting the stage for a two-decade-long contest between the two sides.

"As an important genre in Chinese television, espionage drama has presented us with a new challenge: telling a story about the fight against spies in peacetime," Wang said. "Besides, it is not a race against time, but a test of patience — and of the ability to resist money and temptation."

Before starting to pen the script, Wang conducted extensive research and interviews, which took him a total of 10 months.

"The real-life work of fighting spy activities is different from what we imagine. The thrilling moments are few and far between. Instead, most of the time it is boring and time-consuming. National security officers, unknown to the public for decades, have astonishing perseverance to internally absorb all their weariness," said Wang.

Director Yao Xiaofeng revealed that he used the invisible battle as the focus of the visual creation. "Many complex emotions are conveyed through the actors' eyes, pauses, micro-expressions and spatial relationships," said Yao.

According to streaming site Tencent Video, one-third of the drama's audience is under 30, while its popularity propelled related content to garner 260 million views on Sina Weibo and 5 billion clicks on Douyin.