Latest news with #CopenhagenDemocracySummit
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Creators of Taiwanese TV show imagining Chinese invasion warn island needs to prepare
Supermarkets in Taiwan are chaotically emptied as tampon stocks run low. Tanks rumble down city streets as clueless citizens look out of bus windows. Shipping and semiconductor stocks are plunging. 'The drastic move from the Chinese army has led to a complete halt in international shipping in the Taiwan Strait,' TV news presenters declare. A social media influencer munching on chocolate ice cream asks her followers to support a peace agreement. 'You think we could win? We know we can't,' she says. 'That's why we are so afraid.' A new drama series that imagines the Chinese Army crossing the Taiwan Strait and taking over the self-governed island's cities, warns that such an invasion will test the limits of their military and social readiness, and that they need to prepare. China's military preparedness to invade the island is inversely proportional to the Taiwanese population's readiness to face military escalation, Zero Day writer and showrunner Cheng Hsin Mei says. Cheng, who has spent five years working on the show with a crew of more than 500 people, says her intention is to provoke the Taiwanese into action. 'Initially, I thought that Taiwanese people did not really care about this war, but a year ago we released the trailer which was received very well and attracted a large viewership. That's when I realised it's not that Taiwanese people aren't afraid of war or not caring about this,' she tells The Independent from Copenhagen, where the show had its world premiere last week. 'It is actually maybe the fear deep inside of everyone's mind, but people just tend to not talk about it, hide it well and neglect it till it goes away from daily conversation.' China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, which it considers a breakaway province, and president Xi Jinping wants to 'reunify' the island with the mainland, by force if necessary. The Taiwanese people largely favour the status quo which gives them de facto independence. Last month, the Chinese military conducted extensive drills in the waters and airspace around Taiwan which war monitors said was Beijing's way of practising an invasion of the island and warning it against seeking formal independence. Taiwanese officials have warned that China could launch a surprise attack under the guise of military drills. American intelligence reports claim Xi has instructed the military to be ready to invade the island by 2027. The premier at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit was attended by former Taiwanese president Tsai Ing Wen. 'The release of our trailer was a crack in a glass through which people started venting out about their fear and feelings about what China's war could do to Taiwan. Normally, people tend to not face the reality of such possible scenarios,' Cheng says. 'We do feel this show has successfully started a conversation among the Taiwanese population. The trick to do it, and it is an old original hack, is to really provoke people's thoughts on a topic by exposing them to a show like this.' Cheng acknowledges the trailer 'attracted some criticism from people saying that we are trying to terrify the general public' but insists 'that is not true'. 'The threat of a war from China exists in people's minds,' she says. 'It's just that people don't want to talk about this.' Zero Day has faced criticism in Taiwan for 'scaremongering'. The opposition Kuomintang party has denounced the series as 'government propaganda' – not least because it reportedly received funding from the culture ministry – while other critics have panned it for making Taipei look inept in the face of China's actions. In the trailer, a TV presenter is reading out a news bulletin like it is business as usual: 'This morning, one of the PLA's Y-8 crossed the South China Sea. While passing through waters southeast of Taiwan, it suddenly vanished on radar screens. China is blocking Taiwan's waters under the pretext of search and rescue.' As she completes her sentence, one newsroom producer asks another: 'They said our army retreated and the PLA landed in Kinmen." Another checks his phone and says: "It is rumoured on social media that the president has fled by flight.' As the segment ends, the presenter turns around to the producer. 'Jiang, so there's going to be a real war?" she asks to drive home the point that, as experts warn, Taiwan will be enveloped in a fog of misinformation in the event of war. Zero Day is 10 episodes long and borrows heavily from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Cheng claims to have shot the show with real warplanes and warships in real locations, including Taiwan's presidential office and residence, to keep it as real as possible. Cheng says she studied the Ukraine war theatre with the help of Puma Shen, an assistant professor at the National Taipei University's Graduate School of Criminology, who flew to the eastern European nation to understand the role of Russian misinformation in the conflict. 'Just bombs and artillery don't make a war. There's infowar, a lot of disinformation and whatever fog of fake news can be used to shape the society's thinking,' she says. The makers of Zero Day say they want to portray how a military conflict may potentially touch every sphere of polity and society, from newsrooms and supermarkets to social media influencers and elected officials. 'Because if war happens, it is not only going to be for our army. Our whole society will descend into chaos. So, they have to prepare for what the war will look like for every section of the country,' explains David Kao, lead of programme planning at TaiwanPlus. Cheng says she consulted current and former government officials, especially from the National Security Council of Taiwan, for inputs based on their war simulation scenarios. China has already cracked down on the Zero Day team. Beijing blacklisted two investors on the project last year and termed them separatists. 'They were blacklisted by China for supporting a pro-independence or pro-separation show. They are now persona non grata in Beijing's official books,' Kao tells The Independent. As for Cheng, she is taking all precautions to avoid China's wrath. 'I definitely personally would not dare to go to Hong Kong or China, or even travel on their airplanes,' she says.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Danish minister heads to China, days after Taiwan ex-leader's contested Denmark trip
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen will travel to China on Saturday for high-level meetings, just days after a visit by former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to Copenhagen drew strong condemnation from Beijing. Rasmussen is due to meet China's foreign minister Wang Yi and trade minister Wang Wentao on a three-day visit marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, a Danish foreign ministry statement said on Thursday. The visit comes after Tsai Ing-wen this week met Danish lawmakers and gave a speech at a democracy summit in Copenhagen that accused China of intensifying cyber attacks and military exercises against Taiwan. She also criticized what she referred to as China's "expansionist ambitions." She was attending the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, organised by former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Alliance of Democracies, seen by senior Taiwan leaders as an important venue to get Taiwan's message out to the world. The Chinese embassy in Copenhagen criticised Denmark for hosting Tsai and said it disregarded "international consensus on the one-China principle". "The Taiwan question is purely China's internal affairs that allow no interference by any foreign government, organization or individual," it said in an emailed comment. Tsai, who is also visiting Britain this week, has become a symbol of Taiwan's defiance against China's military threats. Denmark, like most countries, has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan but maintains informal relations with the democratically-governed island. "Our one-China policy remains firm, while it is clear that we do not see everything the same way, and on some points China poses a challenge," said Rasmussen, who has promoted a pragmatic approach to China as foreign minister and earlier as prime minister. Diplomatic relations with China reached a low point after a visit by Dalai Lama to Copenhagen in 2009. Ties improved when Denmark later accepted a Chinese offer to send two pandas to Denmark as part of China's so-called "panda diplomacy."
Reuters
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Danish minister heads to China, days after Taiwan ex-leader's contested Denmark trip
COPENHAGEN, May 15 (Reuters) - Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen will travel to China on Saturday for high-level meetings, just days after a visit by former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to Copenhagen drew strong condemnation from Beijing. Rasmussen is due to meet China's foreign minister Wang Yi and trade minister Wang Wentao on a three-day visit marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, a Danish foreign ministry statement said on Thursday. The visit comes after Tsai Ing-wen this week met Danish lawmakers and gave a speech at a democracy summit in Copenhagen that accused China of intensifying cyber attacks and military exercises against Taiwan. She also criticized what she referred to as China's "expansionist ambitions." She was attending the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, organised by former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Alliance of Democracies, seen by senior Taiwan leaders as an important venue to get Taiwan's message out to the world. The Chinese embassy in Copenhagen criticised Denmark for hosting Tsai and said it disregarded "international consensus on the one-China principle". "The Taiwan question is purely China's internal affairs that allow no interference by any foreign government, organization or individual," it said in an emailed comment. Tsai, who is also visiting Britain this week, has become a symbol of Taiwan's defiance against China's military threats. Denmark, like most countries, has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan but maintains informal relations with the democratically-governed island. "Our one-China policy remains firm, while it is clear that we do not see everything the same way, and on some points China poses a challenge," said Rasmussen, who has promoted a pragmatic approach to China as foreign minister and earlier as prime minister. Diplomatic relations with China reached a low point after a visit by Dalai Lama to Copenhagen in 2009. Ties improved when Denmark later accepted a Chinese offer to send two pandas to Denmark as part of China's so-called "panda diplomacy."
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US now less popular globally than key adversary
Global attitude toward the United States is souring, with one key adversary now more popular worldwide than the U.S., and another hot on its heels, according to new polling. The U.S. is perceived more negatively globally than China and is only a hair more popular than Russia, according to the Democracy Perception Index, a snapshot of global public opinion on democracy and geopolitics developed by the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. Surveying more than 110,000 people across 100 countries over two weeks in April, the organization found that a majority viewed the U.S. negatively. American popularity 'declined noticeably over the past year,' dropping from a net positive of 22% to a net negative of -5%. China's net approval rating is 14%, while Russia's is -9%, according to the poll. It marked the first time that more countries viewed China more favorably than the U.S., according to a report accompanying the poll's release. A year ago, the survey found that 76% of countries held a net positive view of the U.S. Today, 45% do. America remains more popular than China in the United Kingdom, India, Australia and Brazil. Yet China is more popular across much of Europe, including in American allies France and Germany, in Africa and much of South America, and in both Canada and Mexico. 'I'm not surprised that perceptions of the United States have fallen so sharply,' said former NATO Chief and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in a statement accompanying the report. 'Every year, this poll confirms the same point: around the world people believe in democracy, but those fortunate to live in democracies are impatient for their governments to deliver.' President Donald Trump may also be the most globally recognized political leader, known by 85% of respondents, but he also has an 'almost universal negative perception,' the poll found. In 82% of countries, Trump has a negative approval rating, significantly lower than Russian President Vladimir Putin (61%) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (44%). Trump praises Saudi Arabia's prince suspected of ordering journalist's death Latest Trump gaffe most concerning yet: 'What a disaster' Mass. Gov. Healey announces hiring freeze for executive branch agencies Harvard amends lawsuit against Trump admin following $450 million cut 'What About Us?': Native leaders say time's up on broken promises | John L. Micek Read the original article on MassLive.
NDTV
14-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Amid Russia's Threat To Europe, Trump 'Weakened' The West: Former NATO Head
Quick Reads Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. Former NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen warns that Donald Trump's presidency has weakened Western alliances and Ukraine's defence against Russia. He criticises Trump's concessions to Russia and suggests a new D7 group of democracies. Donald Trump's presidency has 'significantly' weakened the Western alliance and undermined Ukraine's ability to hold off Russia, according to former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Rasmussen expressed his concerns ahead of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, telling Politico, "He has played his cards very badly." He criticised Trump's approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, including agreeing to hand over Ukrainian territories to Russia and lift sanctions without pressing Moscow for meaningful sacrifices. Despite these concessions, Russian President Vladimir Putin remains unwilling to negotiate a deal to end the war. Rasmussen is skeptical about the prospects of a ceasefire and negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, given Trump's recent pressure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed willingness to meet with Putin in Istanbul, but Putin has refused to agree to a ceasefire before talks. Rasmussen believes "the Russians are playing games" and that there's a "chess game about who will get the attention of President Trump." He predicts the fighting will continue, even though Trump has said that he wants to end the war. The Western alliance is facing a crisis of confidence, partly due to Trump's stance on NATO. Trump's suggestion that the US might not fulfill its Article 5 obligation to defend fellow alliance members if defence spending is too low has undermined confidence in NATO. Rasmussen agrees with intelligence assessments that Russia could attack the EU in the coming years, emphasising the need for European countries to increase defence spending and support Ukraine. In response, Rasmussen's think tank, the Alliance for Democracies, recommends doubling NATO's defense budget target from 2% of GDP and mobilising €400 billion to boost military spending. The impact of Trump's presidency on the Western alliance might lead to a reevaluation of how democracies collaborate, he said. Rasmussen suggests creating a new "D7" grouping of democracies, including the EU, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand, to form a "formidable force to resist coercion from China or the United States."
