Makers of Taiwan's 'Zero Day' TV series set around invasion fear backlash from China

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 about a Chinese invasion, has long been considered too sensitive for many Taiwan filmmakers 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 of Taiwan.

"We thought there is freedom in Taiwan, but in film and TV production, we are restricted by China on many levels," said Cheng Hsin Mei, the showrunner of "Zero Day."

China, which claims Taiwan as its territory over the government's objections in Taipei, is a much larger market for film and television. Taiwanese entertainers are popular there partly due to language and cultural similarities.

Cheng said creators in free and democratic Taiwan, however, are indirectly confined by Beijing's powerful state censorship.

Beijing has regularly called out Taiwanese artists seen as violating China's political ideology and has threatened to blacklist those unwilling to cooperate.

China pressured a popular Taiwanese rock band to make pro-China comments ahead of Taiwan's presidential vote early this year, sources told Reuters. Beijing denied pressuring the group Mayday.

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.

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 because they worried it might jeopardize their future work in China or their families' safety.

"Our freedom is hard-earned," Cheng said, adding people should not give in quickly due to fears over 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 it is not happening."

The show, which will be broadcast online and on yet-to-be-announced television channels next year, is already creating buzz in Taiwan after the extended trailer went online in July.

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 Taiwan 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 television anchor calling for the Taiwanese to surrender and to report "hidden pro-independence activists" to Chinese soldiers after their landing in Taiwan.

Milton Lin, a 75-year-old Taipei resident, said he was grateful the TV series was highlighting China's threats.

"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."