Zero Day Attack

{{About|the Taiwanese television series|the American television series|Zero Day (American TV series)|the computer security concept|Zero-day vulnerability}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Zero Day (2025) title card.jpg

| caption =

| native_name = {{Infobox Chinese/Chinese|child=yes|hide=no|header=none

| c = {{Lang|zh-hant|零日攻擊|italic=no}}

| p = Língrì gōngjí

}}

| genre = Speculative fiction

| director = {{ill|Lo Ging-zim|zh|羅景壬}}
{{ill|Lin Chih-ju|zh|林志儒}}
Wu Chi-en
Chao Hsuan
Liu Yi
Su I-hsuan

| writer = Huang Peng-Jen
Ting Chi-wen

| starring = Issey Takahashi
{{ill|Cindy Lien|zh|連俞涵}}
Chapman To{{cite web|url=https://sg.style.yahoo.com/chapman-plays-villain-first-taiwanese-035900130.html|title=Chapman To plays a villain in first Taiwanese drama|author=Heidi Hsia|date=July 25, 2024|website=Yahoo! Singapore}}
Kaiser Chuang
{{ill|Ko I-chen|zh|柯一正}}
Chen Yuu
Akira Chen
Yu An-shun
Cheng Yu-Chieh{{cite web|url=https://www.ctwant.com/article/350271/|title=攸關台灣未來莊凱勛一口答應演出|date=July 17, 2024|author=Lin Lixuan|website=Want Weekly}}

| theme_music_composer =

| open_theme =

| end_theme =

| composer =

| country = Taiwan

| language = Mandarin
Taiwanese Hokkien
Japanese
English

| num_series =

| num_episodes = 10

| list_episodes =

| producer = Cheng Shin-mei

| executive_producer = Lin Shih-ken

| location = Taipei

| camera =

| runtime =

| company = Zero Day Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd.

| budget = {{Currency|amount=230000000|code=TWD}}

| network =

| first_aired =

| last_aired =

}}

Zero Day Attack ({{lang-zh|t=零日攻擊|l=Zero day attack}}) is an upcoming 2025 Taiwanese speculative fiction television series, set against the fictional scenario of a People's Liberation Army invasion of Taiwan.{{Cite web|title=日劇男神高橋一生首演台劇杜汶澤笑稱收錢演得尷尬 {{!}} 娛樂|url=https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/202407230382.aspx|website=CNA|location=Taiwan|date=2024-07-23|language=zh|access-date=2024-07-23}}{{cite web|url=https://time.com/7003134/zero-day-taiwan-television-series-china-invasion/|title=Preview Video of Taiwanese TV Series Zero Day Sparks Anxiety About a Chinese Invasion|author=Yian Lee|date=July 25, 2024|website=Time Magazine}}{{cite web|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/taiwan-tv-series-depicting-china-invasion-sparks-anxious-debate|title=Taiwan TV series depicting China invasion sparks anxious debate|date=July 25, 2024|website=The Straits Times}} It is set to air at 9:00 PM (UTC+8) on August 2, 2025 in Taiwan and on August 15, 2025 in Japan via Amazon Prime, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Plot

The elderly incumbent president of Taiwan loses to a younger female challenger (Janet Hsieh). As the political transition is underway and inauguration day approaches, a PLANAF Shaanxi Y-8 antisubmarine warfare aircraft goes down in the waters southeast of Taiwan (implied to be an act of surreptitious internal sabotage as part of a false flag operation),{{Cite web |last=Stilwell |first=Blake |date=2024-08-08 |title='Zero Day': New 10-Part Series Imagines What a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan Might Actually Look Like |url=https://www.military.com/off-duty/television/2024/08/08/zero-day-new-10-part-series-imagines-what-chinese-invasion-of-taiwan-might-actually-look.html |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Military.com |language=en}} with the plane's sole surviving injured crewman being rescued and picked up by a nearby ROCN warship. Under the guise of conducting a search and rescue operation for the missing plane, the People's Republic of China implements a naval blockade surrounding Taiwan, leading to the complete halt of international shipping to the island, and a subsequent stock market crash and bank run. The United States and Japan increase their military readiness levels as the Taiwanese military mobilizes in preparation for invasion, with foreign governments starting to evacuate their citizens from Taiwan.{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3272072/taiwans-zero-day-drama-portraying-pla-attack-sparks-emotion-worry-and-criticism|title=Taiwan's Zero Day drama portraying PLA attack sparks emotion, worry and criticism|author=Hayley Wong|date=July 26, 2024|website=South China Morning Post}}

Production

The series was announced at a press conference on July 23, 2024, with the first trailer released on the same day.{{cite web|url=https://focustaiwan.tw/culture/202407240023|title=Trailer released for Taiwanese cross-strait war drama 'Zero Day'|date=July 24, 2024|website=Focus Taiwan}} Preparation for the series began in December 2022, inspired by the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War and the Chinese military exercises around Taiwan conducted in protest of Nancy Pelosi's 2022 Taiwanese state visit.{{Cite web |last=Cheung |first=Eric |date=2024-08-05 |title=Taiwan is making a TV show about a Chinese invasion. And it's hitting close to home |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/04/asia/taiwan-tv-series-zero-day-chinese-invasion-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=CNN |language=en}} Principal filming commenced in March 2024, with plans to finish by November 2024.{{cite web|url=https://www.limedia.tw/comm/52058/|title=《零日攻擊ZERO DAY》華麗卡司亮相！17分鐘前導片曝高規格製作、高話題度|author=Pan Taoyu|date=July 23, 2024|website=Lihpao|language=zh}} The series is supported by the Taiwanese Ministry of Culture's "1 plus 4-T-content plan", and is produced by Zero Day Cultural and Creative Co., Ltd., with funding provided by the {{ill|Taiwan Creative Content Agency|zh|文化內容策進院}}, Chunghwa Telecom, {{ill|Kaohsiung Film Fund|zh|高雄人 (電影)}}, and Robert Tsao. Cheng Shin-mei ({{lang-zh|t=鄭心媚}}) is the producer and screenwriter of the show,{{cite web|url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/life/arts-and-entertainment/2835731/taiwans-television-series-depicting-china-invasion-sparks-anxious-debate|title=Taiwanese series on China invasion sparks debate|date=July 25, 2024|website=Bangkok Post |last1=News |first1=Bloomberg }} while Lin Shih-ken ({{lang-zh|t=林仕肯}}) serves as executive producer. Filming was also assisted by the Republic of China Armed Forces,{{Cite web|title=台海戰爭劇「零日攻擊」敏感議題惹關注|url=https://www.worldjournal.com/wj/story/121234/8103533|website=World Journal|language=zh|access-date=2024-07-23}} with a ROCN warship and real CM-32 armoured vehicles appearing in some scenes.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

The show features ten episodes and ten directors in the first season.{{cite web | url=https://www.the-independent.com/asia/china/zero-day-taiwan-show-china-invasion-b2751851.html | title=Creators of Taiwanese TV show imagining Chinese invasion warn island needs to prepare | date=19 May 2025 }} Producer Cheng Hsin-mei also wrote one of the episodes.{{cite web |last1=Chiang |first1=Joy |title=War drama 'wake-up call' to Chinese invasion threat |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2025/05/14/2003836837 |website=taipeitimes.com |date=14 May 2025 |publisher=Taipei Times |access-date=14 May 2025}}

Director Lo Ging-zim explains that after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he considers Taiwan to be "the most likely next flashpoint... drama is not presenting the truth but metaphor as to how we might react to the challenges in reality", and that Zero Day aims to show the public how to face a potential invasion. The director made the decision to weaken Taiwan's government and society in their portrayal, setting a worst-case scenario which they hope to empower the audience to avoid. Lo said “I believe every Taiwanese person has their own version of Zero Day attack in their mind. We were just the first to make it into a series.”{{cite web |last1=Gan |first1=Nectar |last2=Cheung |first2=Eric |title=Taiwan is making a TV show about a Chinese invasion. And it's hitting close to home |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/04/asia/taiwan-tv-series-zero-day-chinese-invasion-intl-hnk/index.html |website=cnn.com |date=5 August 2024 |publisher=CNN |access-date=7 August 2024}}

Hong Kong actor Chapman To, who plays the character of "Brother Qiang", a Chinese Communist Party operative, expressed in a media interview that "it is embarrassing to play the role of a Hongkonger sent by the People's Republic of China to infiltrate Taiwan, but acting such a role is not difficult because there are many such people in Hong Kong".{{cite web|url=https://neww.tw/zero-day/|title=零日攻擊zero day台海戰爭片:高橋一生、杜汶澤出演！2025播出|date=July 26, 2024|website=新識界|language=zh}}

Release

The series will consist of ten episodes, and is planned to release at 9:00 PM on August 2, 2025 in Taiwan and August 15, 2025 in Japan, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGaXThXWTLc|title=《零日攻擊》正式總預告｜𝗭𝗘𝗥𝗢 𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗞 OFFICIAL TRAILER｜8月2日起每週六21:00 | August 15 on Amazon Prime Video JP|date=June 24, 2025|via=YouTube}}{{cite web|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/taiwan-china-invasion-series-07252024045150.html|title=Taiwan to release TV series about China's invasion|date=July 25, 2024|website=Radio Free Asia}}{{cite news |author1=李世宸 |author2=劉毓琦 |title=「零日攻擊」邀外媒辦座談會預告最快明年5月上映 |url=https://www.ftvnews.com.tw/news/detail/2024820L16M1 |access-date=29 August 2024 |work=民視新聞網Formosa TV News network |date=20 August 2024 |language=zh-TW}} Each of the episodes will be filmed by different directors.

A 17-minute trailer was released in July 2024 during simulated air raids in Taiwan's Han Kuang Exercise.{{cite news|work=Newsweek|title=China Invades Taiwan in New TV Drama|author=Micah McCartney|date=July 26, 2024|url=https://www.newsweek.com/china-invades-taiwan-new-tv-drama-1930600}}{{citation|work=Deadline Hollywood|title=Taiwanese Series 'Zero Day' Trailer About Chinese Invasion Sparks Emotional Response|author=Sara Merican|date=July 26, 2024 |url=https://deadline.com/2024/07/taiwan-series-zero-day-trailer-chinese-invasion-fears-1236021632/}}

The first episode was premiered at the 2025 Copenhagen Democracy Summit on May 13, following a discussion with Janet Hsieh and screenwriter Hsin-Mei Cheng.{{Cite web|url=https://copenhagendemocracysummit.com/2025/sessions/3701/zero-day-movie-war-in-the-taiwan-strait|title=Zero Day Movie: War in the Taiwan Strait|website=copenhagendemocracysummit.com}}

Reactions

A review in Small Wars Journal said the series "perfectly illustrates the multifaceted nature of modern hybrid warfare... blend[ing] conventional military tactics with cyber operations, psychological manipulation, and exploitation of societal vulnerabilities".{{citation|work=Small Wars Journal|title="Zero Day" TV Series Illustrates What A Chinese Invasion of Taiwan Could Look Like|date=March 15, 2025|url=https://smallwarsjournal.com/2025/03/15/video-zero-day-tv-series-illustrates-what-a-chinese-invasion-of-taiwan-could-look-like/}} Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Walter Russell Mead said it "offers both an intimate look at Taiwanese society and an invaluable introduction to a looming great power conflict that could upend all our lives."{{Cite web |last=Mead |first=Walter Russell |title=Opinion {{!}} The War of Revision Is Coming |url=https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-war-of-revision-is-coming-russia-china-taiwan-national-security-4e2184a7 |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}