Anti-Japan plays must not play with facts

A TV drama set during China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45) has been pulled off the air, showing the country's top film, TV and radio watchdog has finally taken action against controversial Japan-related films and TV plays that distort historical facts and challenge common sense.

The TV drama, Fighting Together Against the Devils (devils usually refer to Japanese invaders in Chinese films and TV plays), was telecast by a TV station in Sichuan province in early May. A controversy erupted after a few-minutes-long video clip from the drama was uploaded on the Internet a few days ago. The clip shows a female character, hiding a grenade in her pants while visiting her husband in a jail guarded by Japanese soldiers. This and the subsequent conversation, people say, are full of sexual innuendo.

After the State Administration of Press and Publication, Radio, Film and Television said it would investigate the matter and deal with the drama's producers according to the law, the Sichuan TV station suspended its telecast.

At a film and TV drama conference held on March 27 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Chinese people's victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Tian Jin, deputy director of the Administration, urged producers of such dramas and films not to indulge in cheap gimmicks, saying productions that sensationalize the period's events will not be cleared for screening. His remarks constitute the official stance on crude and sensational films and TV serials based on the events before and during World War II.

The icy relations between China and Japan because of historical issue and the territorial dispute over Diaoyu Islands have further encouraged some Chinese producers to make such films and TV dramas. In 2012 alone, about 200 of them were made in China. Some producers say it is easier to get the screening approval from the authorities for dramas with such a theme.

Properly made films and TV plays that highlight Japan's invasion of China more than seven decades ago will not only help later Chinese generations to get the true picture of history, but also remind them of our forefathers who fought the Japanese invaders and sacrificed their lives for the country.

But crude and sensational productions that play with facts - for example, those exaggerating Chinese people's power and portraying Japanese soldiers as clowns - to make money will be a disservice to history. We have seen "a Chinese solider slicing a Japanese solider into half using his bare hands" and "a Chinese battalion commander throwing a grenade into the air to down a Japanese airplane" in such productions, which can only be described as ridiculous. Such exaggerations - with the icing on the cake being "my grandpa was killed by the Japanese at the age of 9" - undermine the achievements and sacrifices of the Chinese people.

The atrocities committed by the Japanese army were immense, and any attempt to underestimate the invaders power will mean belittling the struggle of our forefathers. Therefore, all films and TV drams on the subject should respect historical facts.

The author is a senior writer with China Daily. wuyixue@chinadaily.com.cn