China’s top espionage agency has released a TV drama that suggests foreign spies are trying to kill scientists – a plotline that may have been inspired by a true case.
China’s Ministry of State Security did not say that the TV series was based on a true story but it may give some clues about how the ministry investigates what it regards as suspicious deaths.
The TV series, The Dark Tide is Raging, was launched by the ministry on its official WeChat account last Tuesday and features a scientist researching aerospace materials. The scientists is targeted by foreign spies who sabotage his car.
The plot may be an allusion to an incident that killed Colonel Feng Yanghe, one of the leading lights behind the artificial intelligence software used in China’s military simulations.
Media reports said Feng was travelling in a ride-hailing car after leaving a Beijing airport last July when the accident happened.
The authorities have not released much information about the incident, but the National University of Defence Technology, where Feng worked, said he had “sacrificed his life while carrying out an important mission”.
In the drama, the scientist was working on technology used in “the engines and turbine systems of new-generation fighter jets”. An accident occurs when he drives a sabotaged hire car to an airport.