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STORY: An upcoming Taiwanese TV drama "Zero Day" promises to show Taiwanese audiences what a war with China might look like.It's an unprecedented production, confronting a topic that remains too sensitive for many Taiwanese filmmakers and with creators facing indirect censorship from China.The ten-episode series is set to be released next year, but an extended trailer released in July has already set off buzz in Taiwan, where residents have for many years considered a war with China unlikely.In recent years, though, China has stepped up war games, simulated attacks and blockades of the island.Beijing maintains democratically governed Taiwan is Chinese territory, while the government in Taipei rejects that claim.The trailer for "Zero Day" focuses on several imagined scenarios should a war between China and Taiwan break out.It teased a global financial collapse, the activation of Chinese sleeper agents and panicked residents trying to flee the island."Without freedom, Taiwan is not Taiwan" says a fictional Taiwan president in a speech, urging unity after declaring war on China.The live feed gets cut off, replaced by a Chinese state television anchor who tells Taiwanese to surrender and to report "hidden pro-independence activists" to landing Chinese soldiers.Speaking to Reuters, showrunner Cheng Hsin Mei said Taiwanese should confront the fear of invasion, rather than pretend it will never happen:"When we planned this drama, we hoped to make people think: would they trade away their freedoms for power, or for an enormous sum of money? When faced with the temptation, what will the Taiwanese people choose?”But for the series' crew, confronting the idea in fiction has meant real challenges, from funding and casting to finding places to film.Cheng said more than half of the crew of "Zero Day" asked to be anonymous on the crew list.Some, including a director, pulled out of production at the last minute over worries it might jeopardize their future work in China, or the safety of family members working there."Those of us who worked on this production hope that this drama, which tackles such a taboo topic, becomes popular. That would 'open a door' for other creators to not be too concerned about the China issue."For many Taiwanese artists and entertainers, China is a much larger and lucrative market for film and television.But Beijing has regularly called out Taiwan artists who were seen as violating China's political ideology or have threatened to blacklist those unwilling to cooperate.
