As the longest running and most successful television series in German speaking countries, 'Crime Scene' has been focusing on immigrant characters since the late 1980s. In 1991, "The Chinese Method" was broadcast as the first film featuring mainly Chinese characters in Germany. The drama has become a focus of academic attention due to its high social influence, but the Chinese community has received little attention. This article selects all films in "Crime Scene" that contain Chinese characters as research materials, analyzes the composition and visual presentation of Chinese characters, and predicts future trends. The research results are helpful in understanding the formation, development, and direction of public opinion on China and Chinese in German film and television media and the public, which is of great significance for China's communication industry with Germany.

1、 Corpus and Research Design

Introduced the sources and methods of the research corpus. The study selected 28 films containing Chinese characters from "Crime Scene" between 1970 and 2023 as the corpus, and obtained film information through keyword search. Using content analysis method, the time distribution, importance, professional identity, gender and age of Chinese characters in the film are sorted out, and the characters are classified and subjected to group portrait analysis to extract image features. Finally, analyze the commonalities, changes, community presentation, stereotypes, and other issues of Chinese imagery from a historical perspective, analyze the trends in the construction of Chinese imagery, and propose cross-cultural communication strategy recommendations.

2、 Analysis of Chinese Character Classification

Analyzed the classification of Chinese characters in the German TV drama "Crime Scene" from 1970 to 2023. The number of Chinese characters has increased over time, with middle-aged and young people being the main characters and fewer children and elderly characters. The proportion of male characters is relatively high, while female characters are few but often have distinct personalities and representative social identities. Chinese characters have diverse occupational/social identities, mainly consisting of Chinese restaurant workers, business Chinese communities, and small business practitioners, as well as illegal immigrants, interpreters, and members of the underworld. The long-term role of Chinese residents in Germany is characterized by a single profession and a clear tendency towards marginalization. In 16 films, Chinese characters are the main or important characters, while in the remaining 12 films, they are mostly tool characters.

3、 Analysis of Chinese Character Group Images

A group image analysis was conducted on Chinese characters on German television screens, dividing them into three basic groups and one special group. The Chinese who travel to Germany in the short term are mainly business personnel and tourists, often appearing in the form of delegations, dressed in formal attire, and have economic relations with German companies. However, in the film, they are often portrayed as the background cause of the murder, with a negative image and lack of personality traits. The role of ordinary Chinese who reside in Germany for a long time reflects the stereotype of Chinese immigrants in German society, mainly in the Chinese restaurant industry, with other professions such as reciprocal students and university students gradually emerging, but the number is relatively small. Chinese restaurant employees are often involved in illegal and criminal activities in the film, with high German proficiency but unsuccessful social integration. Other small business operators and interpreter groups are often targeted by detectives in the film to inquire about clues, and the interpreter role develops over time with a more confident and equal attitude. The illegal and criminal elements among the German Chinese include illegal immigrants, snakehead organizations, and organized crime groups, which are portrayed as illegal and unstable factors in German society, constantly conflicting with German society and the police. Although the number of female Chinese characters is relatively small, they have distinct personalities, strong communication skills, a strong willingness to communicate with the outside world, and a prominent image and role.

4、 Duration analysis and trend prediction

The Chinese characters portrayed in "Crime Scene" have changed with the times, with both commonalities and changes coexisting. The role of Chinese who briefly visit Germany is constructed as a deadly foreign temptation, while ordinary Chinese who reside in Germany for a long time are mainly Chinese restaurant employees or small business owners, who cling to the Chinese cultural space and do not actively integrate into the local society. The illegal and criminal personnel among the Dehua people present a large number of disappearing and group criminal images. The film portrays the Chinese community as a marginalized and non mainstream group, with few positive Chinese characters possessing qualities and virtues such as wisdom, kindness, integrity, and bravery. The film highlights the self isolation of the Chinese community, where detectives encounter a "wall of silence" during the investigation, and the subjects of the investigation are unwilling to cooperate for various reasons. Many Chinese characters in the film do not speak German or English, only Chinese. Some people do not even speak Mandarin, only dialects. When portraying Chinese characters, the film repeatedly uses the stereotypes and prejudices of German society about Chinese people, such as "L" instead of "R", "immortal Chinese", sexual desire and materialization of Chinese/Asian women, and linking Chinese restaurants with illegal behaviors. The film also reflects a stereotype of German society about itself, that is, the inability to distinguish between Chinese and people from other Asian countries. The film is suspected of using racist elements, such as referring to Chinese people with "squinting eyes", mocking Chinese or referring to Chinese names with meaningless syllables such as "é choking dome", or singing/reading the children's song "Three Chinese and a Bass". With the continuous strengthening and deepening of exchanges between China and Germany, it is expected that the attention to China and Chinese issues in "Crime Scene" will continue to grow, and the number of films related to Chinese people will also continue to increase. Personnel engaged in the Chinese restaurant industry and other small businesses will continue to dominate the screen, but with the development of the times and the gradual growth of the new generation of Chinese, new professional/social identities will emerge, and the identity structure of Chinese characters will become more diversified. As a minority Chinese community, the characteristics of not actively integrating into the local society and self isolation still exist on the German screen, and the image construction of a large number of illegal immigrants and stranded persons hidden in the Chinese community will not easily disappear in the short term. Some stereotypes and prejudices about Chinese people in German society will continue to exist in "The Crime Scene", but the language expression and behavior suspected of racial discrimination should gradually disappear. With the continuous development of the Chinese economy and its increasing importance to Germany, China's strong economic strength and status will continue to be reflected in films that feature Chinese characters, especially short-term visitors to Germany. If there are any major events involving Chinese people and China that continue to attract media attention in the future, it is highly likely that there will be films containing related topics in 'Crime Scene'. The construction of Chinese imagery in 'Crime Scene' will continue to follow the established narrative framework and mode for a long time in the future, but it will also undergo local, non scale changes with the development of time and the overall environment. Our country's communication industry towards Germany can be used as a starting point to deconstruct the established narrative frameworks and visual features about Chinese people. Based on this, we can identify pain points and key breakthrough points, and then selectively choose different perspectives and strategies to construct Chinese characters. Gradually, we can dispel and correct the stereotypes and biases of German society towards Chinese people, tell different Chinese and Chinese stories, and form a competitive Chinese film and television narrative framework and strategy that can compete with the established narrative frameworks and strategies of German film and television. In terms of basic communication strategies, it is necessary to attach importance to and strengthen the construction and dissemination of the image of German (foreign) Chinese. In terms of disseminating content, the urgent task is to dispel the existing ethnic stereotypes and prejudices against Chinese in German media, and break through the marginalized image of the Chinese community in Germany. In terms of communication channels and subjects, it is necessary to fully utilize the trend of diversified media resources, develop multiple media channels, and gather the efforts of multiple parties. This will not only promote mainstream media and professional creative teams to carefully produce and disseminate Chinese stories in a targeted manner, but also encourage and guide private forces and individual communicators to join the German communication matrix, tell the stories of Chinese people around German audiences, and create a multi-level, multi perspective, and multi-dimensional Chinese narrative system.