By Eric Vandenbroeck and co-workers

Taiwanese Series Considered Too Sensitive

The premise of a new Taiwanese series has for years been considered too sensitive for many Taiwanese film-makers who fear losing access to the lucrative Chinese entertainment market. New TV show imagines China's invasion, gives Taiwan viewers a wake-up call. Assessing Its Content.

A new Taiwanese TV series that imagines the run-up to a Chinese invasion is getting rave reviews from viewers, who said the first program featuring the sensitive topic is a wake-up call for the public facing a heightened Chinese military threat.

In the show Zero Day Attack, a Chinese warplane goes missing near Taiwan.

China then sends swarms of military boats and planes for a blockade as Taiwan goes on a war footing. Panic ensues on the streets of Taipei.

At viewings in Taipei last week, attendees included the top US diplomat in Taiwan, Raymond Greene, who is director of the American Institute in Taiwan, and Taiwanese tycoon Robert Tsao, a strident critic of Beijing.

From a historical perspective, as we have seen earlier about the Pacific War, which includes Taiwan between the Pearl Harbor attack and Hitler’s declaration of war on the United States, five days passed during which the future of those disconnected struggles was decided, and every significant power was forced to commit to one of two camps. This interval was the crucible for a new global alignment that would dramatically alter the course of deadly conflict and reverberate far beyond the war. If for Hitler the die was cast, things were still very much uncertain in Washington and London.

“Presenting such a situation (of conflict) can lead to more discussion about what we should do if it turns into reality one day,” said Blair Yeh, a 35-year-old engineer, after watching the first episode in the Taipei premiere last week.

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.

“Without freedom, Taiwan is not Taiwan,” the actor who plays a fictional Taiwanese president says in a televised speech, urging unity after declaring war on China, in the show’s trailer.

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 in Taiwan. Why has the Taiwan issue been so complex?

“We’ve been comfortable for a long time now,” said viewer Leon Yu, a 43-year-old semiconductor industry professional, adding that Taiwan’s freedom and democracy must be kept.

“There are still a lot of people out there burying their heads in the sand and don’t want to face the dangers of the present.”

 

 

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