S. government during the demonstrations.
As unlikely as this plot may seem, it forms the basis for the syndicated television series, Vanishing Son (Universal Television, 1994-95), [2] starring another bi-racial performer, Russell Wong, as Jian-Wa "Johnny- Chang. Like Lo and Caine before him, Jian-Wa quite literally blends East and West through the casting of the role as well as through many of the attributes given to the character. Jian-Wa embodies the West through his impeccable command of English and his violin virtuosity and the East through his martial artistry and vague spirituality. Associated with the Democracy Movement, the fact that Jian-Wa cannot return to China is taken for granted, and his association with the haute bourgeois world of the concert violinist makes it even less likely that his links to traditional martial arts will draw him back to Asia. However, although accepted as a political exile, Jian-Wa can never be assimilated into mainstream American society. Like so many other Chinese characters in the American popular imagination, Jian-Wa becomes inextricably linked to the world of crime through his brother's association with a criminal "tong."" American narratives about crime and ethnicity have often dealt with the difficulties of finding the American dream of personal freedom, and the voice over opening for Vanishing Son's credit sequence summarizes this succinctly:.
Running from oppression, yearning for freedom, he came to America. But when he is falsely accused of murder, he must run again searching for the truth. the hunter and the hunted. .
Running from the law, Jian-Wa, like Lo and Caine, represents a fundamental dissatisfaction with the American justice system and frustration with the ineptness of police procedure, while, at the same time, fulfilling the role of "illegal alien- connected with the Chinese in America since the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.