Lu hopes to faithfully show China's anti-graft drive
China's top anti-graft watchdog has invited a noted Chinese scriptwriter to the country's maximum security prison to help him write a script on corruption.
Lu Tianming told the Global Times Sunday that he has been invited to the elite Qincheng prison in suburban Beijing to gain insights and may spend time talking with corrupt officials while writing a script for a TV drama about the anti-graft campaign.
Lu said he hopes to use this chance to observe the lives of those imprisoned officials so as to faithfully present China's anti-graft campaign since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
The former Soviet era-funded prison, built in the 1950s, is considered China's most mysterious prison.
The prison is known for keeping the most senior level officials with heightened security and high-standard treatment for its elite prisoners.
Many former senior political officials were thrown into that prison, including Jiang Qing, the wife of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, China's former security chief, Zhou Yongkang, and Bo Xilai, former Communist Party of China chief of Chongqing Municipality.
He Diankui, former head of the prison's supervision department, told China Newsweek in 2012 that most "elite" prisoners lived in 20-square-meter wards with blankets and sofa beds and enjoyed nutritious meals, milk and fresh fruits even during tough times.
"I want to know what tempted the former officials to lead corrupt lives and how the anti-graft campaign was carried out," said Lu.
Anti-corruption-themed TV shows have been on the rise since the 10-year hiatus. Over 11 such shows have been approved by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) this year, according to Sichuan-based Chengdu Business Daily.
"Over the last decade, anti-corruption themes on TV have been banned on primetime to preserve social stability. Writing an anti-graft script gave me an opportunity to reflect on social reality and present people's wishes in my work," said Lu.
"About 10 years ago, China's media watchdog banned such shows after many were poorly produced," Zhuang Xihai, an expert at the Southwest University of Broadcasting in Chongqing, told the Global Times.
Li Jingsheng, SAPPRFT Television Series Department director, said "we are required to produce at least two anti-graft films and three TV shows annually but they must be exquisite works."
However, renowned playwright Zhou Meisen said as the public has become more familiar with details of the sweeping anti-graft campaign from reading the news, it has become more difficult for script writers to present the reality while maintaining high artistic standards, paper.com.cn reported.
