Shenyang City welcomes return of CPV soldiers' remains from ROK

China

Shenyang City welcomes return of CPV soldiers' remains from ROK

2024-11-28 09:29 Last Updated At：18:47

Shenyang City in northeast China's Liaoning Province was welcoming the return of the remains of 43 more Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) martyrs who died during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.

In recent days, many billboards, outdoor electronic screens, bus stations, and various places in Shenyang had been decorated with slogans and posters to welcome the return of the remains of the fallen soldiers from the Republic of Korea (ROK).

The remains were welcomed back to China by the Air Force, and a grand welcoming ceremony will be held at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport on Thursday.

It was the 11th such repatriation since 2014, following a handover agreement signed between the two countries.

"We placed national flags on street lamp posts, and used electronic advertising screens, billboards, electronic screens on door lintel, bus stop waiting areas, and whatever public bulletin facilities available to welcome the heroes back home," said Du Guojun, director of the Urban Lighting Advertising Management Office of the Shenyang City Urban Management Bureau.

In addition, the city's main streets were lined with more than 3,000 brand new five-star red flags to escort the heroes on their journey home.

"Our meticulous preparations show our respect for the return of the remains of the heroic volunteer soldiers. The revolutionary spirit of the old-generation heroes will greatly inspire us to work even harder on the new journey of Chinese modernization with greater sense of responsibility," said Mu Guangdong, local citizen.

From 2014 to 2023, China and the ROK, in accordance with international laws and humanitarian principles, successfully completed 10 consecutive handovers involving the remains of 938 CPV martyrs in the ROK, along with related artifacts.

Both sides have agreed to continue their cooperation in these efforts.

Almost 200,000 CPV soldiers were confirmed killed in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, with most interred on the Korean Peninsula.

Hollywood taking notes from China's micro-drama playbook: U.S. actor

Micro-dramas born in China are now taking the U.S. market by storm, and according to a popular American actor, the U.S. film and television industry is looking to copy China's playbook to replicate the commercial success of its vertical-screen short dramas.

Matt William Knowles is the first non-Asian to graduate in acting from the Beijing Film Academy and has starred in multiple hit Chinese TV dramas, including "Red Sorghum" and "Eastern Battlefield". Now, as he has become the face of America's vertical micro-drama boom, he said the experience feels nothing short of surreal.

"I didn't expect that the vertical series would be a thing several years ago, and now they've popped up and grown so fast," said Knowles.

In his view, vertical micro-dramas have long ceased to be a niche phenomenon. In the U.S., they've already built a huge and fast-growing audience.

"I think a couple of years ago, there was a smaller market or type of person who was watching this series, and now there are more and more people who are watching. I had a friend who said he was on a construction site recently, and there were a bunch of construction workers, and they were all watching a vertical series together," he said.

As an insider, Knowles has observed a notable shift in the U.S. film and television industry in recent years: a growing trend of looking to China for inspiration. Backed by hard market data, the once-supreme Hollywood is now filled with professionals eager to decode the business secrets behind China's micro-drama success.

"Several years ago, China was usually bringing over talent from Hollywood to China to learn from them. But now you have this interesting thing that's happening with vertical series, where vertical series started in China. And now people in America are trying to figure out: how can we copy this thing and make money off it? I think a lot of people are studying what's going on in China," he said.