Mao Zedong once said that China must wield both the pen and the gun against its adversaries. It is a strategy China is now intensifying for Taiwan. With its so-called pen, China’s state television is preparing the domestic Chinese population for a new phase of pressure against Taiwan. Its prime-time slot is filled with a new historical drama, “The Silent Honor,” which lionizes Communist Party agents operating in Taiwan after the Nationalists fled to the island in 1949 following their loss of the civil war to Mao’s forces. The series frames the agents’ espionage—and eventual execution—as martyrdom for the cause of “unification.” In a parallel move suggesting a top-down mandate to reorient cultural output toward national struggle, state-owned drama troupes are receiving approval only for war-themed plays, said people briefed on the matter, while other genres are being rejected.

Full commentary : Beijing’s strategy, known as ‘the pen and the gun,’ employs a domestic media campaign and aggressive rhetoric toward Taipei’s friends.