China's 'Invisible Martyrs': Beijing Frames KMT Spy Executions in Taiwan as Reunification Narrative
Hit drama 'Silent Honour' sparks surge in interest over Communist spies executed in Taiwan, transforming Fuzhou courtyard into pilgrimage site with 20,000 daily visitors
Quick Look
- A courtyard house in Fuzhou, Fujian, where Communist spy Wu Shi once lived before being executed in Taipei in 1950, has become a national pilgrimage site following a hit drama 'Silent Honour'.
- The property was renovated in three months and opened in February, attracting up to 20,000 visitors daily over Chinese New Year.
- Since April, it has been designated one of China's 25 'National Security Education Bases', part of Beijing's messaging toward Taiwan framing spy executions within a reunification narrative.
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Why It Matters
The article is the first of a two-part series examining how Beijing frames executions of Communist Party spies in Taiwan within a reunification narrative. Fujian province, as the closest mainland province to Taiwan, serves as an important staging ground for Beijing's messaging toward the island.
Fujian province, the closest mainland Chinese province to Taiwan, is an important site for Beijing's messaging towards the island. In the first of a two-part series, Xinlu Liang examines how Beijing is framing the executions of Communist Party spies in Taiwan within a reunification narrative.
A courtyard house in an old quarter of Fuzhou, capital of the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, has become the unlikeliest of national pilgrimage sites. For decades, the residence at No 1 Jiangqiandang in Luozhou town, Cangshan district, was a crumbling relic, housing nearly a dozen families who lived among peeling paint and rotting wood close to the tree-lined banks of the Min River.
But in October, everything changed thanks to a hit drama, Silent Honour, about Communist spies executed in Taiwan, one of whom, Wu Shi, used to live there. The following month, the families were moved out and in a frantic three-month burst of activity the property was renovated. It opened its doors in early February, just in time to greet the rush of visitors – up to 20,000 a day – over Chinese New Year.
Since April, it has since been designated as one of the country's 25 "National Security Education Bases" – sites used to promote national security awareness.
Open Questions
- What other National Security Education Bases exist and what narratives do they promote?
- How does Taiwan respond to Beijing's use of historical spy narratives?
- What specific content is presented at the education base about Wu Shi?
