It is a day in March or April of an undefined year. Taiwan recently held its presidential election, and a democrat is preparing to succeed a liberal. In this season of political uncertainty, the sea currents are also favorable for the launch of a military incursion. Suddenly, the Chinese People's Liberation Army announces that it lost contact with one of its aircraft, a Shaanxi Y-8, flying over the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. Under the pretext of searching the sea for any surviving airmen, China imposes a total blockade on the island, which is de facto independent but which Beijing considers to be one of its provinces.

Conscription orders reach young Taiwanese. On social media, fake news is rife, announcing that China already conquered some islets, quickly abandoned by the Taiwanese army, and that the president fled. Psychological warfare begins. While selling ice cream online, a Chinese influencer tells her followers: "Those who ask you to resist on the battlefield don't give a damn about your lives," urging the Taiwanese population to accept Beijing's peace.

The total blockade of merchant ships brings the economy to a standstill, in a country that exports most of the latest generation of electronic chips. Financial markets panic, tech prices plummet, with global repercussions. The island's inhabitants rush to the ATMs and soon to the supermarket shelves.

In the midst of the chaos, the triads, long since bought out by China, release their henchmen from prison. They form groups of Chinese regime collaborators, who confront partisans defending the island, its values and democracy, at newly erected checkpoints. Hacker viruses and sabotage operations lead to water and electricity cuts. In a solemn TV address, the outgoing president calls for unity and resistance: "Without freedom, Taiwan is not Taiwan." When the Taiwanese navy interview a survivor of the Chinese plane they rescued at sea, they realize that the explosion came from inside the aircraft and that the operation was staged to prepare the ground, a week before the real invasion, "day zero."

This dark scenario is still only a 10-episode work of fiction – each entrusted to a different director – but even before its full broadcast, scheduled for 2025, it is causing a stir in Taiwan, against a backdrop of growing tensions with China. The Zero Day series recounts the week when the country descends into war. The mere presentation of a full-length trailer at the end of July triggered a highly political controversy. The 17-minute trailer has since been viewed over 1.7 million times on YouTube.

You have 40.83% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.