‘We’ve lived with Taiwan Strait tensions for decades’: Chinese coastal residents unfazed by risk of conflict

Beachgoers in the city of Xiamen, which overlooks Taiwenese-controlled islands, shrug off fears of escalation as they continue to go about their daily lives

The Chinese military has started a series of major drills in the Taiwan Strait following the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

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A couple prepare for a wedding photo shoot on the beach in Xiamen, with Taiwan’s Quemoy islands visible in the background. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:38pm, 4 Aug 2022

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

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

China on Thursday launched some of its largest-ever military drills in response – exercises set to disrupt one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

But on Xiamen’s palm-fringed beach, on the west side of the 200km (120-mile) strait that separates Taiwan from the Chinese mainland, there is little concern.

“A war? No, I don’t care,” a young IT worker surnamed Hwang said as he took a lunchtime stroll.

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