Taiwanese TV show imagines Chinese invasion and stokes debate

A Chinese fighter jet plane crashes in the waters off Taiwan’s coast, prompting Chinese warships to blockade the island for a “search and rescue”.

Taiwanese soldiers manning Dadan Island, a rocky outcrop mere kilometres from China’s coast, begin vanishing mysteriously.

Then one night, a fishing boat lands on Dadan. A signal flare arcs into the inky sky – and illuminates Chinese soldiers who have spilled out of the boat and amassed on the beach.

This is the key scenario in Zero Day Attack, a new Taiwanese television show about a fictional Chinese military invasion. Beijing has long viewed self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, vowing to “reunify” with it some day while not ruling out the use of force.

The series, which aired its first episode over the weekend, was partially funded by the Taiwanese government, which hopes to raise awareness about the threat China poses.

But the show has also landed at a highly divisive moment in Taiwan and attracted criticism of fear-mongering.

Zero Day Attack focuses on how various parts of Taiwanese society grapple with the invasion, from the president to rural villagers.

The anthology series features several scenarios on how an invasion could unfold, provided by defence experts consulted by the production team.

These include the disruption of Taiwan’s communication lines; Chinese disinformation campaigns; “fifth column” supporters of China stirring up unrest; and military officials turned collaborators who conspire against Taiwan.

Showrunner Cheng Hsin-mei told the BBC she wanted to make the series to “warn the Taiwanese people that the war is really coming,” citing China’s rising use of “disinformation campaigns and grey zone warfare to put our society in chaos and make us confused about our identity”.

Zero Day Attack’s message echoes the rhetoric of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government and its leader President William Lai, who have warned about China’s threat and preached the need to raise the island’s defences.

Taiwan’s culture ministry has partially funded Zero Day Attack, while the military provided support for filming and production. Chunghwa Telecoms, Taiwan’s largest telecommunications company in which the government has a minority stake, also contributed funding.

Other private investors include billionaire Robert Tsao, a well-known supporter of Taiwanese independence who has funded civil defence efforts.

Ms Cheng told the BBC that at no point did the authorities try to influence the show. She also said she was not a member of the DPP or any political party.

But even before a single episode was broadcast, Zero Day Attack has become a political lightning rod, given the charged topic.

A 17-minute trailer posted online last year by the production team swiftly racked up hundreds of thousands of views and comments.

While some praised it for its message, others criticised it for sowing anxiety and discord with China.

This debate has intensified with the series premiere, which was the most-watched show on several platforms on Saturday, according to the production company.

In recent days Wang Hung-wei, a prominent lawmaker from the opposition Kuomintang party, criticised Zero Day Attack as “selling dried mangoes”, a Taiwanese euphemism that means stoking unnecessary fear about the destruction of one’s country.

Pointing to the government’s funding of the show, Ms Wang said the DPP was “using the state apparatus to achieve its political goals”.

A commentary by Wang Kunyi of the Taiwan International Strategic Study Society accused the show of pushing Taiwan independence “so that Taiwan becomes a place that never knows peace”.

He added that it was evidence of Lai’s government “once again using all kinds of channels to play the ‘anti-Communist card’ and stir up anxiety of war”.

The DPP and Lai are often accused by their critics, including the opposition and China, as pushing for Taiwan’s independence. Any formal declaration as such would be considered as an act of war by Beijing.

While Lai has in the past described himself as a “pragmatic worker for Taiwan’s independence”, he has also insisted Taiwan has no need to formally declare independence because it is already a sovereign nation.

Zero Day Attack has also garnered positive reviews. One published by the public broadcaster PTS said it “expresses the worries and anxieties of Taiwanese from various political camps in a highly realistic and reasonable way”.

“It’s a good watch,” said one commenter on Zero Day Attack’s Facebook page. “The Taiwanese people can relate to it as it reflects our current situation, the Chinese Communist Party must be repulsed as their tactics have been exposed.”

Some have praised the first episode, which depicts the invasion quietly beginning amid a contentious presidential election marked by violence and political fighting.

They were struck by how uncannily that episode reflected the current fractious mood in Taiwanese politics. Last month the island held a controversial failed recall vote of Kuomintang lawmakers accused of being too friendly with China. Another round will take place later this month.

This has led to questions about the show’s timing and if it was meant to influence the recall votes. Ms Cheng told the BBC that the show’s production had begun long before the recall movement started.

The discussion around the show goes to the heart of one of Taiwan’s most existential questions: how real is the threat of a Chinese invasion?

Taiwan has had its own government since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. In the following decades, the island saw largely peaceful relations and stronger economic ties with China.

Polls show that most Taiwanese do not believe Beijing will attack imminently, and prefer the “status quo” in Taiwan’s relationship with China, which means neither unifying with Beijing nor formally declaring independence.

But the question of a Chinese invasion has become sharper and more political in recent years.

Chinese grey zone warfare has spiked, raising fears that Chinese warplanes and ships repeatedly entering Taiwan’s airspace and waters could trigger a conflict.

The US warned this year that China poses an “imminent threat” to Taiwan. American officials have repeatedly claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping is building up his military to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027.

Beijing has never confirmed this date. But it is a warning that Lai takes seriously.

He has pledged to increase Taiwan’s military spending, his government has carried out reforms in the army, and last month Taiwan staged its largest and longest ever Han Kuang drills aimed at defending against a possible Chinese attack.

Lai has stressed that these efforts are aimed at protecting Taiwan and not to seek war. His political opponents however say he is antagonising Beijing which reviles Lai as a “separatist”, and that he is leading Taiwan towards greater conflict with China.

Beijing has repeatedly emphasised that it seeks “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan. It has dismissed any talk of a Chinese invasion as a pretext manufactured by those in favour of Taiwan independence to drum up support.

Zero Day Attack has been seen as one such provocation. Last week, Chinese defence ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang accused the DPP government of using the show to “peddle anxieties and attempting to provoke war”.

He said Zero Day Attack was “plunging Taiwan into the flames of war and using the Taiwan people as cannon fodder for ‘Taiwan independence’.

Ms Cheng however insisted that her show is “not talking bad about China or depicting it as evil”.

“We are talking about war, and how Taiwanese people struggle and respond to it. And that’s because the terror of war has never stopped, all over the world.”

Additional reporting by Joyce Lee of BBC Chinese.