In recent days, Chinese netizens on social media platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, and Douban have engaged in intense discussion and resistance against the soon-to-be-released, officially supported film The Battle of Penghu. The movie depicts the 1683 historical event when Qing Emperor Kangxi ordered Shi Lang to attack Taiwan, ultimately defeating the Ming Zheng navy and forcing Zheng Chenggong’s grandson Zheng Keshuang to surrender, completing the Qing dynasty’s unification of Taiwan.
The film’s first trailer was released on October 25, coinciding with the “80th Anniversary of Taiwan’s Recovery,” and emphasized the slogan “Unifying Taiwan is unstoppable.” However, mainland Chinese netizens have expressed strong dissatisfaction, generally criticizing the movie for glorifying the Qing army’s conquest of Taiwan and praising Shi Lang, who defected from the Ming Zheng regime to the Qing. Many viewers felt the film ignored the historical significance of the Ming Zheng regime in Taiwan as the “legacy of the Ming, the true line of Chinese civilization.”
Netizens expressed sympathy for the Ming Zheng regime and criticized the Qing dynasty as lacking “the dignity of Qin and Han, the literature of the Two Jins, and the flourishing of the Sui and Tang dynasties,” questioning the film’s portrayal of “unification” as the subjugation of a Han Chinese regime by a backward empire.
The Battle of Penghu follows the real-life adaptation series Silent Glory as another CCP-backed media production aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan. Despite some censorship of online discussions after the trailer’s release, the film has sparked heated debate and resistance across social platforms, with widespread sentiment showing sympathy for the Ming Zheng regime and disapproval of both the Qing dynasty and Shi Lang.