Ouyang Nana attends a press conference for the Beijing Music Festival's We Were Born in 2000 concert. The concert will close out the 10-day festival on Tuesday. Photo: Courtesy of BMF

The young actress Ouyang Nana from the island of Taiwan is once again under siege by some Taiwan media outlets, who accuse her of turning into a "member of the Communist Party of China (CPC)," following the announcement on Monday that she is set to star in 1921, a film marking the CPC's centenary.

In preparation forthe 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC in 2021, the studio behind the film, which is scheduled for a July release, is gathering many Chinese actors and actresses to play revolutionary pioneers and progressive women. The majority of the female cast was published on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo on Monday.

Besides actresses in the Chinese mainland such as Song Jia and Tong Liya, Ouyang has captured the attention of netizens on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Following the cast announcement, Ouyang posted a photo of herself in character on Sina Weibo with the hashtag for the film and the message: "The memories of the era are imprinted in the centuries and the days of youth. On July 1 of this year, I will look back at the beginning of the century. I will live up to my youth!"

Ouyang's participation in the movie was applauded by Sina Weibo users, many of whom called it a highlight of the casting. 

"I think the key point is not which character Ouyang Nana will play. As an entertainer who was born in Taiwan, her acting in this movie, which is a birthday gift to the Party, means a lot," one user wrote on Monday.

Ouyang was called a "student Party member" by Taiwan media, while some media outlets on the island condemned her participation in the film, saying "she was trying to play up to the CPC."

"One of reasons that Taiwan media opposes Ouyang starring in the film is that it commemorates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC and has strong political ties," Wang Jianmin, a Taiwan affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Wang noted that the media reaction revealed their stance as "Taiwan independence" separatists. 

"They are used to refuting anything related to cooperation and cultural exchanges between both sides of the Taiwan Straits even though this objection is rowing against the tide."

According to the film's producer and director Huang Jianxin, the movie, whichtakes place in 1921 in Shanghai, explores the stories of the first batch of the Party members as they take on the important tasks of saving the nation from misery, creating a great political party and providing a new outlook on the future of the Chinese revolution.

Every move of Ouyang and other entertainers from the island who mainly work in the Chinese mainland have been put under the microscope by the Taiwan media, especially when they express a patriotic stance supporting the "one-China" principle.

Ouyang and Lai Guanlin were mocked by some Taiwan media outlets in February after forwarding a Sina Weibo post from the People's Daily that paid tribute to the PLA martyrs who had been killed in the Galwan Valley border clash with India. 

In 2020, the island of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council urged Taiwan-born entertainers not to attend a Chinese mainland gala for the National Day holiday, but Ouyang and singer Angela Chang Shaohan insisted performing in the first patriotism section of the gala with other artists.