Beijing is producing a short drama based on a Taiwanese folk tale to push a "shared roots" message, and Taiwanese historians say it badly misreads the island's past.

• China's Taiwan Affairs Office is backing a mini-series built on the legend of the Qing emperor Jiaqing touring Taiwan — a trip that never happened.
• No Qing emperor ever set foot on Taiwan during more than 200 years of rule, and the tale was invented folklore, much like similar "emperor in disguise" stories in China.
• The story was born out of misery, not loyalty: Qing rule barred families from migrating together, taxed Taiwan harder than the mainland, shut locals out of office, and left corrupt officials running the island.
• Turning a fantasy about a just ruler punishing corrupt officials into proof that Taiwanese want an emperor's favor reads protest as submission.
• Critics call the effort a sign that Beijing still thinks in imperial, top-down terms and does not grasp that Taiwan is now a democracy built on popular sovereignty and rule of law.

Outlook: The drama is likely to backfire, hardening Taiwanese opinion rather than warming it and handing Taipei another example of Beijing's tone-deaf messaging.