Taiwanese are not intimidated by Chinese military maneuvers

First modification: 05/08/2022 – 11:34

China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory, launched the most important military exercises in its history around the island on Thursday, in a total of six areas. The crisis does not frighten the inhabitants of the island.

“The Chinese military may have deployed their ships in the Taiwan Strait and their helicopters in the sky, but nothing has been done, the Taiwanese are still not panicking, far from it. They have been trying to scare us for years, even decades,” one young woman told RFI.

“We are used to it, with each new threat, we just tell ourselves that it is the same thing again, but nobody here is worried or prepared for the worst,” he stressed.

“Faced with the deliberate escalation of military threats, Taiwan will not back down,” said Taiwanese President Tsai Ing Wen.

However, China has launched operations on an unprecedented scale with ballistic missiles reportedly flying over the island, all against a backdrop of rising tensions in the region.

This is an explosive cocktail that could cause a change of mentality, clarifies the Taiwanese historian Li Xiao Feng: “The movements of Chinese planes are increasingly incessant in the vicinity of Taiwan. And this is causing more mistrust among some Taiwanese, as well as for the government to prepare the population with rescue drills.”

Chinese military exercises will last until Sunday around Taiwan.

Pelosi’s visit was not an unprecedented event. Republican Newt Gingrich visited Taiwan in 1997, when he was Speaker of the House of Representatives. Beijing’s reaction was relatively mild.