TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A promotional trailer for an upcoming television series depicting a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was released online this week after being shared at a Radio Free Asia (RFA) press briefing in Taipei on Tuesday (July 23).
The series, titled “Zero Day” in English, will be released in early 2025 and will consist of 10 episodes from 10 directors, with a total production cost of around NT$230 billion (US$7 million). The series is reportedly funded in part by Robert Tsao (曹興誠), the founder of United Microelectronics, and was produced in cooperation with Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND), reported RFA.
The title of the series is reportedly taken from a term commonly used in the cybersecurity industry. “Zero Day” refers to the day that malware or an active exploit of a digital system is employed by malicious actors, giving the defenders zero days to deploy a remedy.
The 17-minute trailer for the series (view below) depicts a scenario when a Chinese Y-8 transport aircraft has gone missing off the east coast of Taiwan. The Chinese government uses the incident as a pretext to dispatch a fleet of ships to impose a blockade of Taiwan’s Pacific coastline, effectively marking the beginning of the invasion.
According to reports from Bloomberg and other media outlets, the series is expected to “spark anxiety” in Taiwan about the possibility that the country may find itself in a situation similar to the one depicted on screen.
A major focus of the show will reportedly be to highlight how cognitive warfare tactics and targeted attacks on Taiwan’s infrastructure could sow confusion and chaos during a potential invasion.