The trailer of a new TV series portraying a Chinese attack on Taiwan has prompted a wave of emotional response and discussion in the nation.
The teaser for Zero Day (零日攻擊), a Taiwanese production partly funded by the government and is expected to air next year, has given many viewers a sense of urgency.
Its release this week coincided with annual air raid drills to prepare the nation’s 23 million residents in the event of an invasion by the Chinese military.
Photo: Chen Yi-chuan, Taipei Times
“I burst into tears watching this. I feel heavy-hearted, and it is scary. However, this is what we need to face as Taiwanese,” a person wrote in a comment on YouTube.
“We need to make the best preparation for the worst scenario,” another person said in a comment.
The nearly 18-minute-long trailer depicts a fictitious ploy by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to mount a naval blockade of Taiwan in the guise of a search-and-rescue mission.
It also shows cyberattacks disrupting infrastructure and sabotages by Beijing’s collaborators in the prelude to war.
“The threat is not something new, but we have been avoiding talking about it due to its sensitivity,” the series’ producer Cheng Shin-mei (鄭心媚) said.
The heightened emotions might help the Taiwanese military recruit more personnel.
Security analysts generally see Taiwan as ill-prepared to deter or resist China, citing Taiwan’s shrinking military and number of volunteer soldiers.
In a sign that it is serious about defending itself, Taiwan in 2022 announced an extension of its compulsory military service from four months to one year, which is to take effect this year.
Funding for the 10-part series came from the Ministry of Culture and Robert Tsao (曹興誠), founder and former chairman of United Microelectronics, Taiwan’s second-largest contract chipmaker.
Tsao has been a vocal advocate of stronger national defense in recent years.
Cheng said her team is in talks with a major international streaming platform to release the series, hoping to draw more global attention to the threats Taiwan faces from China.
She declined to publicly name the company.
The prospect of a cross-strait military conflict has been present for decades, but rarely addressed bluntly in Taiwanese TV shows, partly due to the topic’s sensitivity and commercial implications.
Several actors and directors dropped out of the project due to fears of offending China, Cheng said.
“They usually have to sign contracts with clauses that forbid them to be involved in politically sensitive topics, and violators would need to pay for any loss caused by that,” Cheng said.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths