Chinese tourists were milling around a small temple overlooking the glittering sea on an island near Taiwan yesterday when they heard thunderous booms from an islet in the distance.
Rockets streaked across the clear blue sky over Pingtan, just 130km from Taiwan and near ongoing Chinese military drills around the nation.
Onlookers brandishing phones and selfie sticks rushed toward the ocean to snap images of the projectiles, which left trails of smoke in their wake.
Photo: AFP
“Our country is becoming increasingly strong and prosperous ... that’s why it has the capabilities to do this,” said a 63-year old tourist after witnessing the scene.
The woman, surnamed Chen, was visiting Sichuan Province.
She said that she had once enjoyed a trip to Taiwan and hoped “the ultimate outcome” for both sides would be “peaceful unification.”
Photo: AFP
Nearby, a group of middle-aged women posed for a photograph in front of the temple’s entrance, before shouting in unison: “Unification of the motherland.”
They had traveled specially from Sichuan to visit China’s nearest point to Taiwan proper.
“Looking from here, even if we can’t see it, it feels like we are really close,” said a woman surnamed Zhang, 59.
Zhang had also visited Taiwan and said her impression was that its cost of living was very high.
“Prices there are really expensive, and actually, the elderly there don’t have as high a quality of life as we do,” she said.
She said the drills were a “deterrent” to those advocating Taiwanese independence.
“If we don’t deter them, those Taiwan separatists will keep inciting their people and maintain a rebellious attitude toward us and the Chinese Communist Party,” she said.
Reporters saw two China Coast Guard ships in the waters near Pingtan yesterday, as well as two fighter jets and a military vessel the previous day.
Pingtan locals were less excited than the tourists, many having become used to seeing fighter jets flying past the island during drills over the past few years.
In a coastal village, some people drew water from a well while others watched television in their homes, brushing off requests to discuss Taiwan.
A resident said he was unaware of the drills, but that the island had once been a popular destination for Taiwanese tourists.
The man, who did not give his name, praised former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who oversaw warmer relations with China.
“When he came to power, we all went over there [near Taiwan] to fish,” but that has dried up under President William Lai (賴清德), the 65-year-old said.
A woman surnamed Nian said she occasionally followed news about Taiwan, as her sister lives there with her Taiwanese husband.
If China ever takes over Taiwan by force, it would be “something they had no choice but to do,” the 58-year-old said outside her home.
“What we hoped for in our hearts was always peace and harmony,” she added.
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