‘The last thing Beijing wants is a military conflict’: overseas Taiwanese

Tensions over the Taiwan Strait are high amid an increase in military activity in the area by both the United States and China

While concerned, the island’s diaspora is used to sabre-rattling – and recognises that sometimes it is a way of averting war, rather than starting one

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A US-made F-16V fighter jet with its armaments on display during an exercise at a military base in Chiayi, southern Taiwan. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 9 May 2021Updated: 9:47am, 9 May 2021

While heightened military tensions over Taiwan are concerning for the island’s overseas diaspora, many take the view that a full-blown crisis is unlikely – at least in the short-term.

Like most overseas Taiwanese, Bryan Hsieh keeps close tabs on developments back home and monitors tensions across the Taiwan Strait. He thinks matters are getting increasingly worrisome.

The 46-year-old product marketing manager, who lives in Fremont, California, said that while there had been various spikes in cross-strait tensions over recent years, the risks of a conflict appeared more real this time round.

“The situation seems more severe than before. In the past, Chinese military aircraft and ships did not [approach] Taiwan so frequently,” Hsieh said, referring to an increase in military operations in the 180km wide strait.

According to Taiwan’s National Defence Ministry, People’s Liberation Army warplanes entered the island’s air defence identification zone 107 times in April, double the figures for March and February and higher than the previous record of 81 in January. The 283 incidents in the first quarter of this year already accounts for 75 per cent of 2020’s total.