Makers of Taiwan’s Zero Day TV series set around invasion fear backlash from China
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More than half of the show's crew asked to remain anonymous, due to worries that their involvement in the show might jeopardise their future work in China.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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TAIPEI - A Chinese warplane goes missing near Taiwan. China sends swarms of military boats and planes for a blockade as Taiwan goes on a war footing. Panic ensues on the streets of Taipei.
The premise of Zero Day, a new Taiwan TV drama envisioning a Chinese invasion, is a topic that has for years been considered too sensitive for many Taiwanese film-makers and television show creators, who fear losing access to the lucrative Chinese entertainment market.
But as China steps up military threats, including the large massing of naval forces last week and daily military activities close to the island, the upcoming drama confronts the fear by setting the 10-episode series around a Chinese invasion.
“We thought there is freedom in Taiwan, but in film and TV production, we are restricted by China on many levels,” said Ms Cheng Hsin-mei, the showrunner on Zero Day.
China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory over the objections of the government in Taipei, is a much larger market for film and TV.
Taiwanese entertainers are popular there partly due to language and cultural similarities.
Ms Cheng said creators in democratic Taiwan, however, are indirectly confined by Beijing’s powerful state censorship.
Beijing has regularly called out Taiwanese artistes seen as violating China’s political ideology and has threatened to blacklist those who are unwilling to cooperate.
China pressured a popular Taiwanese rock band to make pro-China comments
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Buzz in Taiwan
For the Zero Day crew, confronting such a sensitive topic means facing difficulties, from funding and casting to finding places to film.
Ms Cheng said more than half of the Zero Day crew asked to remain anonymous on the crew list, and some people – including a director – pulled out of the production at the last minute, due to worries it might jeopardise their future work in China or concerns about the safety of their families working there.
“Our freedom is hard-earned,” Ms Cheng said, adding that people should not give in easily due to a fear of China.
“The People’s Liberation Army has launched substantial incursions against us, and they are getting closer and closer,” she said. “We should look at this directly rather than pretending that it is not happening.”
The show, which is set to be broadcast online and on yet-to-be announced TV channels in 2025, is already creating buzz in Taiwan
The drama focuses on several scenarios Taiwan might face in the days leading up to a Chinese attack, including a global financial collapse, the activation of Chinese sleeper agents and panicked residents trying to flee the island.
In the show’s trailer, the actor who plays a fictional Taiwan president urges unity after declaring war on China and says in a televised speech: “Without freedom, Taiwan is not Taiwan.”
The live broadcast then gets abruptly cut off, replaced by a feed of a Chinese state TV anchor calling for Taiwanese to surrender and to report “hidden pro-independence activists” to Chinese soldiers after their landing on the self-ruled island.
Mr Milton Lin, a 75-year-old Taipei resident, said he was grateful the TV series was putting a spotlight on the threats by China.
“It helps Taiwanese to understand that we are facing a strong enemy trying to annex us and how we should be on guard with unity to face such an invasion.” REUTERS
