Taiwanese TV show Chinese invasion and Stokes imagine debate

A Chinese fighter jet aircraft crashed into water away from the coast of Taiwan, inspiring the Chinese warships to “search and rescue” the island to nose.

A rocky outcrop from the coast of China, Taiwan’s troops, Dadan Island, mysteriously disappeared.

Then one night, the land on a fishing boat gesture. A signal rotates in the flared sky – and illuminates the Chinese soldiers who have gone out of the boat and gathered on the beach.

This is a major landscape in zero day attack, about a fictional Chinese military attack on a new Taiwanese television show. Beijing has long been seen as part of its territory, which vows to “reunite” with it someday, while not ruling the use of force.

The series, which broadcast its first episode over the weekend, was partially funded by the Taiwan government, hoping to raise awareness about China’s threat.

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

The Zero Day attack focuses on how Taiwanese struggles with the President to the villagers in various parts of the society.

The anthology chain includes several scenarios that an attack may come up, provided by the defense experts consulted by the production team.

These include disintegration of Taiwan’s communication lines; Chinese disintegration campaign; “Fifth columns” supporters of China stirred upset; And military authorities changed the faithful allies against Taiwan.

Shorter Cheng Haseen-Mei told the BBC that “he wants to make a series to warn the people of Taiwan that the war is really coming,” China’s “disintegration campaigns and the increasing use of the gray zone war, to put our society in anarchy and confuse our identity”.

The message of Zero Day Attack echoes the rhetoric of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government and its leader president William Lai, who has warned of China’s threat and propagated the need to increase the island’s rescue.

The Ministry of Culture of Taiwan has partially funded the zero day attack, while the army has provided support for filming and production. Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan’s largest telecom company with a minority stake of the government also contributed to funding.

Other private investors include billionaire Robert Tso, a famous supporters of Taiwanese independence Funded civil defense effort,

Ms. Cheng told the BBC that at any point the authorities did not try to impress the show. She also said that she was not a member of DPP or any political party.

But even before a single episode broadcast, Zero Day Attack has become a political lightening rod, with the subject of the charged topic.

The 17 -minute trailer posted online last year by the production team raked hundreds of thousands of views and comments.

While some praised it for its message, others criticized it for extinguishing anxiety and discord with China.

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

In recent times, Wang Hung-Vai, a prominent legislator of the opposition Kuominang Party, criticized a zero day attack as “selling dried mangoes”, a Taiwan’s interaction means that the intensity of a Taiwan means to prevent unnecessary fear about the destruction of a country.

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

A comment by Wang Kunya of the Taiwan International Strategic Study Society accused the show of pushing Taiwan freedom “so that Taiwan would become a place that never knows peace”.

He said that this was the proof of the LAI government “once again to play ‘Communist Anti-Communist Card’ and to reduce war concerns”.

The DPP and LAI are often accused by their critics, including opposition and China, as emphasizing Taiwan’s freedom. Any formal announcement will be considered a war work by Beijing.

While Lai has described herself as a “practical worker for Taiwan’s freedom” in the past, he also stressed that Taiwan has no need to formally declare freedom as it is already a sovereign nation.

Zero Day Attack has also obtained positive reviews. Published by Public Broadcaster PTS said that it “expresses the concerns and concerns of Taiwanese from various political camps in a high realistic and proper manner”.

“This is a good watch,” said a commentator on the Facebook page of Zero Day Attack. “The people of Taiwan can be related to it because it reflects our current situation, the Chinese Communist Party should be repeated as their strategy has been revealed.”

Some have praised the first episode, which depicts the invasion of quietly between a controversial presidential election marked by violence and political battles.

They were impressed by how unnaturally that episode reflects that episode Current frocks mood in Taiwan’s politicsLast month island held one Controversial failed vote Kuomintang MPs accused China of being very friendly. There will be another round at the end of this month.

It has questioned the time of the show and if it was to affect recall votes. Ms. Cheng told the BBC that the show started production long before the recall movement started.

Discussion around the show goes to the heart of one of the most existent questions of Taiwan: how real the danger of Chinese invasion is?

Taiwan has its own government since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. In the next decades, the island watched a large -scale peaceful relationship and strong economic relations with China.

The pole suggests that most Taiwanese do not believe that Beijing will attack adjacently, and prefer “status quo” in Taiwan’s relations with China, meaning that neither to unite with Beijing nor formally declare freedom.

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

Chinese gray Zone warfare Fearful, fearing that the Chinese war aircraft and ships repeatedly enter the airspace of Taiwan and the water could trigger a conflict.

The US warned this year that China pose a “imminent threat” for Taiwan. US officials have repeatedly claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping is constructing his army to be able to attack Taiwan by 2027.

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

He has promised to increase Taiwan’s military expenses, his government has improved the army, and Taiwan has staged it last month. The largest and longest ever Han Kuang Drill For the purpose of defending a potential Chinese attack.

Lai has insisted that the purpose of these efforts is to protect Taiwan and Not looking for warHis political opponents say he is opposing Beijing, who considers Lai as a “separatist”, and is leading Taiwan towards greater conflict with China.

Beijing has repeatedly emphasized that it wants “peaceful reunion” with Taiwan. This has dismissed anything of a Chinese invasion, which supports people in favor of Taiwan’s independence as an excuse.

Zero Day Attack has been seen as such a provocation. Last week, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Ziaongang accused the DPP government of using the show, which “to incite war and try to incite war”.

He said that the Zero Day attack was “sinking Taiwan in the flames of war and Taiwan was using people as cannon fodder for ‘Taiwan freedom’.

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

“We are talking about the war, and how the Taiwan people struggle and answer it. And this is because the terror of war has never stopped, all over the world.”

Additional reporting by Joyce Lee of BBC Chinese.