Nectar Gan and Eric Cheung, CNN
Sun, August 4, 2024 at 7:30 PM MDT·9 min read
Following a military blockade, panic and chaos rip through a besieged island: residents scramble to withdraw cash, foreign nationals rush to be evacuated, riots break out in prisons and television networks are hacked into broadcasting enemy propaganda.
These fictitious scenes have stirred emotion and imagination in Taiwan over what an imminent Chinese invasion may look like, since their release last month in a trailer for “Zero Day,” a forthcoming Taiwanese television series.
The 10-part show is the first in Taiwan to dramatize a possible invasion by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). That threat has loomed over the self-governing island for decades but is now gaining pace as a more powerful and aggressive China ruled by the Communist Party increasingly flexes its military might, pushing tensions to new heights.
The 17-minute trailer hit close to home in Taiwan, making headlines in local media and garnering more than a million views on YouTube.
“As a 21-year-old, I almost burst into tears when I watched it. Every scene in those 17 minutes felt so close to us. Maybe one day in the future, these scenarios will become the reality around us,” said a top comment with more than a thousand upvotes.
But the show also attracted criticism, including from opposition politicians, who said it created panic and exaggerated the crisis.
The specter of war is nothing new for Taiwan, a progressive democracy living in the shadow of authoritarian China, which views the island as its own territory and has vowed to seize it by force if necessary.
Many of Taiwan’s 23 million people have grown used to Beijing’s military threats, even as they become more regular and prominent under Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader.
But Hsin-mei Cheng, the showrunner of “Zero Day,” worried that her fellow Taiwan citizens have grown “too numb” to the danger of an impending conflict.
“Frankly, everyone has their own fears and imaginations about the war, but in our daily lives, many avoid it or even pretend it doesn’t exist,” the journalist-turned-screenwriter told CNN.
“But as the crisis looms larger over the past two years, I think it’s about time we take a hard look at it and open this Pandora’s box,” she said.
Hsin-mei Cheng, the showrunner of "Zero Day," says she hopes the show can serve as a wakeup call to the people of Taiwan. - Courtesy Hsin-Mei Cheng
A first in Taiwan
In late 2022, more than half a year into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and months after former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei prompted a massive show of force from Beijing, Cheng decided to turn China’s threats against Taiwan into a TV drama.
It was an unprecedented project in an industry that had traditionally shunned sensitive political topics, Cheng said, but she found no shortage of like-minded partners along the way.
Robert Tsao, a chip tycoon and one of Taiwan’s richest men, became the show’s first major investor. The tech billionaire who founded Taiwan’s first semiconductor company, UMC, has previously warned of China’s threat and donated tens of millions of dollars to help Taiwan bolster its defense.
Cheng also assembled a team of 10 directors, each responsible for an episode in “Zero Day” that tells an independent story. Her main criterion for picking the crew: not afraid of being banned by China.
The vast Chinese market of 1.4 billion people has long been a draw for Taiwan’s actors and directors. But as tension rises across the strait, Taiwanese artists are increasingly faced with a choice between vocally toeing Beijing’s political line or being blocked from its lucrative market.
“The existence of this series shows that there are investors and talents who are willing to resist China’s aggression, and there’s a market for them,” said Lo Ging-zim, who directed the show’s trailer and one of the episodes.
“We are all worried and anxious about Taiwan’s present and future, and we hope to contribute what we can with our own skills.”
The crew films a scene inside Taiwan's Presidential Office Building. - Courtesy Howard Yu
Taiwan’s government and its military were supportive of the series, too.
The Presidential Office allowed the show to film on its premises, including a room where the president delivers addresses. And with the military’s approval, the production crew shot scenes aboard a warship during its routine drills.
Getting the authorities on board wasn’t easy.
“It took a lot of communication and persuasion at first,” Cheng said. But the officials understood the importance of the issue at stake and the power of films and TV shows in shaping public perception, she added. “Eventually, they decided it could be a good thing if someone makes a TV series about it.”
The show also received funding from Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture. But Lo, the director, stressed it was part of a broader program to support the island’s film and TV industries.
Neither the funding nor the access for filming gives the government any right to interfere with the production, Lo said, adding that “not a single word of the script had been modified by the government.”
“This is not a political propaganda video or patriotic film,” he said.
That level of artistic and political freedom would be impossible in mainland China and even in the city of Hong Kong, which once boasted a comparatively free and outspoken film industry that has been tamed in recent years as part of a wider crackdown.
Some Hong Kong artists have since moved to Taiwan, including Chapman To, who is starring in “Zero Day.” A vocal supporter of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, To became a naturalized Taiwanese citizen in 2022.
The shooting of “Zero Day”, which started in March, is expected to be wrapped up by the end of November and the show is planned for broadcast in Taiwan next year.
The production team is also in touch with streaming services including Netflix for a potential international release, though discussions are still in the early stages, Lo said.
"Zero Day" crew shoots a scene abroad a Taiwanese warship. - Courtesy Howard Yu
‘Red infiltration’
Most of the series takes place in the week-long countdown to “Zero Day” – the day of the fictional attack.
It starts with Beijing imposing a naval and aerial blockade on Taiwan, under the pretext of search and rescue for a PLA aircraft that “vanished” near the island. In the final episode, Chinese soldiers make landing in Kinmen, a frontline island controlled by Taiwan.
Cheng noted the show doesn’t feature many bloody scenes of military combat – instead, much of the focus is placed on “red infiltration” by China’s ruling Communist Party.
“For me, the war has already begun in Taiwan. It is not being fought through guns and cannons, but through information and infiltration. It’s permeating our daily lives,” she said.
Taiwan officials have increasingly warned against China’s cognitive warfare operations, including disinformation campaigns to sway public opinion.
In “Zero Day,” Chinese infiltration and cognitive warfare takes on many forms – from the lure of money and power to the threat of violence.
In the trailer, a Taiwanese influencer casually encourages her fans to give up the fight and endorse a “peace agreement” with Beijing while livestreaming herself savoring an ice cream; elsewhere, a group of felons walk free from prison and instigate unrest, attacking those who refuse “unification.”
Neither of these scenarios are unimaginable. Thanks to the island’s free speech protections, which were hard won after decades of martial law rule, it is not unusual to see Taiwanese celebrities and influencers parroting Beijing’s talking points. Meanwhile, Taiwan authorities have long publicly accused certain organized crime groups of spreading pro-Chinese Communist Party influence.
In another chilling scene in the trailer, the president’s emergency address to Taiwan is hacked during a live broadcast, with an AI deepfake declaring war on China. Then, television screens across the island abruptly cut to a newscast on Chinese state TV. With an eerie smile, an anchor in a pink suit announces, “the PLA promises all Taiwanese compatriots will be fully protected” and urges them to report any “pro-independence forces” in hiding.
A scene from the trailer of "Zero Day" shows pro-Beijing supporters hanging up banners calling for unification. - Courtesy Howard Yu
Su Tzu-yun, a military expert at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research who has served as an adviser to “Zero Day,” said the series would be “an important force in countering China’s ‘gray zone tactics’” – or actions just below what might be considered acts of war.
“In the face of fear, people can build up confidence, and this can indirectly and partially offset China’s influence warfare.” he said. “At the same time, when this film is shown on international streaming platforms, viewers around the world can learn about Taiwan from a new perspective,” he added.
The teaser has drawn praise as well as criticism.
Some blamed the series for creating panic. Lee Yen-hsiu, a member of parliament from the opposition Kuomintang party – which in recent decades has pushed for closer ties with China – accused the show of exaggerating the threat of war and further deterring international tourists from visiting Taiwan.
Others accused the trailer of making the Taiwan government look too feeble in the face of aggression from China – which has a military, population and economy that dwarfs Taiwan’s.
Lo, the director, said the government’s capability and Taiwan’s social cohesion were deliberately weakened in the show to highlight the power of Chinese infiltration – and alert Taiwanese people to be more vigilant in real life.
“We want to explore what part of humanity will show up in such a state – would it be fragility, fear and greed or courage and empathy?” he said.
“I believe every Taiwanese person has their own version of Zero Day attack in their mind. We were just the first to make it into a series.”
Cheng didn’t mind the mixed reaction.
“We all think it’s a good thing. As long as the show generates attention and discussion, it means that it resonates with something in people’s hearts,” she said.
Cheng said she didn’t want the show to cause division in Taiwan. During the production process, the crew tried to search for a common denominator that could represent the aspirations of all Taiwanese people.
They found an answer and placed it in the trailer – in the form of a line in the presidential address – “We will always believe, without choices, there’s no freedom. Without freedom, there’s no Taiwan.”
“I hope the show can serve as a wakeup call to the Taiwanese people: what should we do when we still have the right to choose?” Cheng said.
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