‘We’re not scared’: Life in Taiwan goes on amid major Chinese war games

As China carried retired live-fire drills and rehearsed a subject blockade successful the waters surrounding Taiwan this week, 70-year-old Liao said she wasn’t disquieted astir war. She was enjoying beingness arsenic a retiree, playing mahjong with her friends and keeping an oculus connected the banal market.

“Everyday beingness hasn’t been impacted,” Liao told Al Jazeera arsenic she was having her hairsbreadth shampooed and chopped successful clip for the caller twelvemonth astatine a salon successful New Taipei City. “I’ve lived successful Taiwan for 70 years. I’m utilized to it. We each inactive person to lavation our hair.”

“We’re not scared,” Liao’s hairstylist agreed. In fact, she hadn’t adjacent noticed that the drills were happening. “Working radical don’t person clip to wage attraction to these things. All they tin bash is work,” Liao said.

It’s not that the Taiwanese don’t attraction astir threats from China. While life, for the astir part, remained undisturbed this week during what China called “Justice Mission 2025”, accusation astir them circulated rapidly connected societal media and was broadcast crossed Taiwan’s 24-hour quality channels.

Disinformation – a regular constituent of specified exercises – besides circulated widely, including a propaganda video showing an craft flying adjacent to the Taipei 101 skyscraper that Taiwan’s authorities dismissed arsenic fake.

Threats from China, though, person go a regular portion of beingness for the Taiwanese people. China has claimed sovereignty implicit Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, since the communists won the Chinese Civil War successful 1949 and established the People’s Republic of China (PRC). China says it volition unify Taiwan with the PRC by unit if indispensable and has go progressively assertive successful its behaviour astir Taiwan arsenic its assurance successful its subject capabilities and prowess grows.

State quality outlet The China Daily said successful an editorial connected Monday that the drills were “part of a bid of Beijing’s responses” to an $11bn arms bundle from the United States to Taiwan, “as good arsenic a informing to [Taiwanese President William] Lai Ching-te authorities successful Taiwan”.

Washington does not officially recognise Taiwan, whose ceremonial sanction is the Republic of China, but it has pledged to assistance Taipei support itself nether the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act and the 1982 Six Assurances.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian besides told reporters connected Monday that the exercises were “a punitive and deterrent enactment against separatist forces who question Taiwan independency done subject build-up and a indispensable determination to safeguard China’s nationalist sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

But Liao is assured that China won’t motorboat an onslaught acknowledgment to the spot of Taiwan’s system and the “sacred mountain” – a section word for the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), oregon what foreigners mightiness notation to arsenic the “silicon shield” – which galore judge volition support Taiwan from invasion. China relies connected precocious semiconductors from TSMC for its ain high-tech industries. “Look, the banal marketplace is up 200 points today. If warring were to interruption retired today, everyone would beryllium selling disconnected their stocks, right?” Liao said.

The hairsbreadth salon wherever Liao, 70, had her hairsbreadth washed and chopped this week, contempt Chinese subject drills going connected adjacent by [Jordyn Haime/Al Jazeera]

‘We consciousness a spot numb’

For galore interviewees, this week’s exercises brought reminders of Chinese drills successful 2022, which were carried retired aft then-United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, the highest-ranking American authoritative to bash truthful successful decades.

Those exercises included live-fire drills, naval deployments, aerial sorties and ballistic rocket launches and went connected for 4 days successful August that year.

They ushered successful an epoch successful which violations of Taiwan’s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) reached unprecedented levels. In November 2021, determination were lone 41 documented violations. By November this year, that fig had soared to 266, according to information from Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence. And since the Pelosi sojourn successful 2022, China has launched six large-scale subject drills astir Taiwan.

Polling from the Brookings Institution deliberation vessel successful Washington, DC, suggested that this accrued enactment has taken a toll connected the Taiwanese people. In 2023, it recovered that conscionable nether 65 percent of radical were disquieted astir a cross-strait war, a mean summation from conscionable implicit 57 percent successful 2021. Nearly 58 percent of respondents said they believed Chinese President Xi Jinping was much apt to usage unit against Taiwan compared with 46 percent 5 years agone successful 2021.

“We’ve go utilized to it, I think, a spot numb,” said Ms Yeh, who runs a angiosperm store successful New Taipei City. During the 2 days of Chinese warfare games this week, customers drifted successful and retired arsenic usual. No 1 discussed the drills occurring conscionable offshore.

But she added that the ambiance felt different this time and the drills seemed much serious, adjacent if radical weren’t showing it connected their faces. “I deliberation Taiwanese radical are resigned to their fate,” she said. “For mean citizens, there’s thing we tin do. Taiwan’s ideology has voting rights, but too voting, what other tin we do?”

Yeh said escalating cross-strait tensions and the warmth that Taiwan’s main absorption party, the Chinese Nationalist Party, oregon Kuomintang (KMT), shows towards China person eroded her spot successful the KMT to support Taiwan.

In 2016, she voted for Tsai Ing-wen, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP’s) campaigner for president, and again for existent DPP President Lai successful 2024 aft being a lifelong KMT voter.

The Chinese Communist Party has refused to prosecute with the DPP, which champions Taiwan’s unsocial individuality and sovereignty, portion the Kuomintang has repeatedly blocked the DPP’s projected peculiar defence budget. The KMT’s caller chairperson, Cheng Li-wun, has accused Lai of pushing Taiwan towards the brink of warfare and has prioritised a gathering with Xi successful 2026.

‘I tin lone watch’

Wang, a 19-year-old assemblage student, expressed akin feelings to Yeh. “I’m a small worried, adjacent to the constituent of wanting to constitute a will,” she said arsenic she studied with a person astatine a cafe connected Wednesday. “This clip feels much serious. It feels much realistic, but I consciousness powerless due to the fact that I tin lone watch.”

The ambiance successful Taiwan had already been feeling tense, Wang said. On December 19, a 27-year-old named Chang Wen acceptable disconnected fume grenades and stabbed respective radical successful the centre of Taipei, sidesplitting three people and injuring 11. Such unit is seldom seen successful the city. Chang, who died during a constabulary chase, acted alone, and the motive for his onslaught is not known.

Then connected Saturday, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake disconnected the northeastern seashore of Yilan shook the island, though it caused nary large damage.

“There are galore troops stationed successful Zhongshan [station] and Taipei [Main Station], and the caller earthquakes person made america adjacent much nervous. I deliberation it’s indispensable that we should beryllium vigilant, but I deliberation the panic online is excessive,” Wang said.