A stone’s throw from Taiwan, beachgoers don’t worry about the war

On a beach in the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen, just a few miles from an island controlled by Taiwanese authorities, life is easygoing despite some of the worst cross-strait tensions in decades.

Ignoring stark warnings from Beijing, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan late Tuesday — the most senior US elected official to visit the island in 25 years — sparking a diplomatic firestorm.

China on Thursday launched some of its largest military drills in response — drills designed to disrupt one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

But there is little concern on the palm-fringed beach of Xiamen, on the west side of the 200-kilometer-wide strait that separates Taiwan from mainland China.

“A war? No, I don’t care,” a young IT worker surnamed Hwang told AFP on a lunchtime stroll.

“As residents of Fujian, we are used to tensions in the Taiwan Strait. We lived with them for decades,” he adds, referring to the frequent flare-ups between the two rivals since the 1950s.

China’s eastern province of Fujian is directly across from Taiwan, and the two share cultural ties and a common Chinese dialect.

“Something could happen at any moment. But the probability is small, so we’re not worried,” says Hwang.

“But Pelosi’s visit breaks the balance that was there.”

Undeterred by the news, newlyweds smile for photos, people walk their dogs and children play in the sand.

“I think and I hope there will be no war,” Zheng Dahai, a 30-year-old who brought his son to set up a tent on the beach and have something to eat, told AFP.

“A conflict would affect us, our lives, it could even lead to injuries,” he says.

Behind him, four miles offshore, is Kinmen Island, home to just over 100,000 people.

In a twist of history, Chinese communist forces have never managed to capture the island, meaning it remains under Taiwan’s control.

This makes this beach one of the few places where mainland and island forces face each other at such close range.

If war broke out, this would be ground zero.

“We don’t want war. We want to live in peace and mutual respect,” says a pensioner who comes here every day to swim, even in winter.

“On the other hand, if you don’t respect me, if you come to bully me, that’s a different story. If the other is strong or not, even me, an old man, I will fight!”

Further away, two tourists snap a selfie in front of a monument symbolic of Xiamen’s unique location: eight Chinese characters several meters high forming a patriotic slogan addressed to the Taiwanese authorities on the other side.

“One country, two systems: China’s reunification,” is the slogan, referring to the political compromise that returned Hong Kong and Macau to mainland rule in the 1990s.

“Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” Hu, a 40-year-old in a yellow tank top who came to the coast for a run, told AFP.

“Sooner or later it will come back” to the motherland, he explains calmly before continuing his stretching exercises.