The farcical 'black' terror campaign by the DPP

Editor's note: CGTN's First Voice provides instant commentary on breaking stories. The column clarifies emerging issues and better defines the news agenda, offering a Chinese perspective on the latest global events.

In China's Taiwan region, there's a TV drama coming up. Named "Zero Day," it portrays a scenario where the Chinese mainland ostensibly uses a humanitarian search and rescue mission as a pretext to "invade" the Taiwan region. The Chinese mainland, in this series, is set to be painted as the big bully, while those in the Taiwan region who believe in "Taiwan Straits – both sides are one family" are depicted as the villains.

How "coincidental," isn't it, that the message this program sends is so aligned, nearly identical, with the Democratic Progressive Party's agenda? 

Well, it shouldn't be a surprise at all, if one takes a peek behind the scenes. Key contributors to the production, including Lin Jinchang, Su Ziyun and Tsao Hsing-cheng, are vocal supporters of the Taiwan separatist agenda. The narrative, centered on "fear of the Chinese mainland" and "resistance to the Chinese mainland," is designed to deepen cross-Strait hostility and alienate people in the region from their shared cultural heritage with the mainland. Editorials from outlets like China Times have criticized the drama as free propaganda for the current Lai Ching-te administration.

Actually, it's not free, because Lai's administration paid for it. This production is backed financially by the DPP administration's "Black Tide" initiative.

The so-called "Black Tide" is a funding initiative launched by the DPP at the end of 2023, also called the 1+4 T-content plan, with NT$10 billion budgeted over four years from 2024. "Black Tide" provides comprehensive support for the development of the region's content industry in six major aspects of culture and the arts. To qualify for funding, cultural projects must incorporate both "international appeal" and "elements of Taiwan." For instance, in the film and television category, projects are required to include clear and specific international marketing strategies, with priority given to those that highlight Taiwan's history and culture, in other words, to those that try to cut its historical and cultural ties with the Chinese mainland. That means, NT$10 billion from the taxpayers' pocket will be used to promote the Taiwan separatist agenda, by force-feeding audiences, both local and global, the separatist ideologies.

While the series reportedly cost NT$230 million, KMT Legislator Wang Hungwei revealed that NT$71 million came from the "Ministry of Culture," with the so-called "National Development Fund" secretly invested an additional NT$41.7 million – a total of nearly NT$130 million of taxpayer money wasted on what the region's United Daily News described as a show that "cannot be considered professional." Zhang Yanting, the former deputy commander of the region's armed forces, stated that the show is not realistic at all and serves as propaganda for the political party using the taxpayers' money. The retired major general Li Zhengjie said bluntly that "Zero Day" is not in line with military common sense. "If Taiwan has this kind of army, the company commander should be shot," he said.

It isn't surprising as why the DPP would be so brazen in force-feeding audience its political agenda. The current leader of the region, Lai Ching-te, is a hardline Taiwan separatist. He once ran against his former boss, Tsai Ing-wen, because he believed she wasn't hardline enough on this issue. Under the guise of "protecting" and "developing" the region's culture, Lai has integrated a pro-independence historical perspective with cultural policies, implementing "cultural separatism" more comprehensively and systematically. He attempts to undermine the cultural, ethnic and national identities of the people in the region, deny the historical fact that the Chinese mainland and Taiwan share common roots and construct a "Taiwan independence consciousness." Zhang Wensheng, vice president of the Taiwan Research Institute at Xiamen University, pointed out that this practice distorts Taiwan's younger generation's national identification and even generates antagonistic sentiments, which will have an extremely negative impact on the integration and development of cross-Strait relations and peaceful reunification.

The "Zero Day" is a reflection of the cultural warfare Lai's administration is waging on the Chinese heritage. The "de-sinicization" policies are squandering billions of public funds while pushing a narrative that's lacking realism. Taiwan region's former leader, Ma Ying-jeou, once said that the people in the region have used its space and manpower to develop a model that enriches the Chinese culture and this is the development of Chinese culture with regional characteristics. This expression clarifies the relationship between Chinese culture and the region's culture and represents the cultural identity of the majority of the people in the Taiwan region. Lai's administration and other separatist advocates should understand that losing Chinese culture and heritage is equivalent to being culturally null and void.

And that will not give the Taiwan region the future it deserves.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on Twitter to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)