A new Taiwanese drama centred on the countdown to a fictional attack by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) against the self-ruled island has yet to be released, but it is already drawing emotional reaction.
Zero Day is partly funded by the Taiwanese government and produced by award-winning filmmakers Lin Shih-ken and Cheng Shin-mei.
The film is set during a mainland military blockade imposed for a search and rescue operation after a Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft disappears off Taiwan’s southeast coast.
In the drama’s 17-minute trailer, released exclusively on YouTube, the self-ruled island eventually faces the collapse of its financial system, a cyberattack disrupting the internet and power supplies, as well as social unrest, as people begin fleeing the island. Eventually, the PLA launches a war against Taiwan.
The video has attracted over 390,000 views and more than 4,600 comments since it was released. Comments ranged from supportive and excited to critical, with some questioning the government subsidies for the filmmakers.
“Taiwan does not lack [film] themes, but it does lack people who dare to act. I pay tribute to all the performers,” said one commenter.
“As a 21-year-old, I almost cried when I watched this … Every scene in these 17 minutes is actually very close to us. Maybe one day in the future, these plots will actually happen. Taiwanese people must protect this nation,” wrote another commenter.
Kuo Jengliang, a former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator turned commentator,told CTI Television on Wednesday that the party was using the Ministry of Culture to pursue “cultural Taiwan independence”.
“The trailer appeared to me as like psychological warfare … as it has depicted the gangsters as controlled by the mainland before the invasion,” said Wang Hung-wei, an opposition Kuomintang (KMT) legislator on local television channel TVBS.
Wang suggested that the government was “investing in film production to sway public opinion”.
Most countries, including its main international partner the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, while Washington opposes any attempt to take the island by force and is legally bound to supply it with defensive weapons.
The NT$230 million (US$7 million) production was partly funded by Taipei’s Ministry of Culture as well as tech billionaire Robert Tsao.
The founder of chip maker United Microelectronics Corporation has been vocal about threats from the mainland.
The miniseries, which features 10 different directors for each episode, stars high-profile actors Issei Takahashi from Japan, and Taiwan’s Lien Yu-han.
Production began in March and was expected to be completed in November, with the series to debut next year, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
The KMT, considered Taiwan’s most mainland-friendly party, has criticised the DPP for trying to shape public opinion in favour of their agenda, especially since new leader William Lai Ching-te took office.
During the DPP’s congress held earlier this month, Lai called for more public awareness among citizens about the importance of identifying with the island, while dispensing with the notion that Taiwan could serve as a base to “reclaim” the Chinese mainland.
