Members of the Taiwan public have slammed a highly politically charged television drama series backed by the secessionist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities.
The 10-episode series, titled "Zero Day Attack", depicts a fictional scenario in which the Chinese mainland imposes a naval blockade on the island of Taiwan, with the plot focusing on how Taiwan would respond to such an attack. It began airing on Saturday.
Critics believe the production reflects the DPP authorities' squandering public resources to wage a "cognitive war" against the mainland.
Moreover, many said that the drama is seemingly designed to slowly stoke public fear, influence the upcoming Aug 23 recall vote on the island, set the tone for the 2026 local elections, and ultimately support Lai Ching-te's 2028 re-election bid.
"I am not surprised that such a production is released. Why? Because the cross-Strait situation is very complex and severe now. In Taiwan, there has been an attempt to forget the past and make the image of the mainland more negative, like in the military exercises. I am not surprised," said Chen Shu-ying, a journalist in Taiwan.
"It hypes up conflicts and even radicalizes the hatred. It even portrays the Chinese mainland as an implacable enemy. The recent failure of the Democratic Progressive Party in the mass recall vote in Taiwan has proven that the party's tactics to create confrontation and smear other parties has become ineffective," said Fred Tzou, a Taiwan scholar.
The DPP authorities suffered a major political blow as all recall votes targeting 24 legislators of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party proved unsuccessful on Saturday. During ballot counting on the same day, "no" votes consistently outnumbered "yes" votes in all 24 recall cases, sinking every DPP proposal.
Taiwan journalist, scholar slam DPP-backed TV drama series
