On the Chinese coast, at the geographical point closest to Taiwan, tourists are taking the sun and selfies on Saturday, indifferent to the tensions with the island and the ongoing Beijing military exercises.
“I saw the news but that won’t stop our plans for today,” Wu told AFP, who declined to give his full name due to the sensitive nature of the subject.
China launched three-day military exercises around Taiwan on Saturday, with live fire planned for Monday around Pingtan (east), the closest point in mainland China to the island (about 125 kilometers).
This picturesque destination is very popular all year round for its resplendent sea and its reefs, its small stone houses and its wild vegetation.
And Saturday is no exception. Selfies, souvenir photos: the atmosphere is jovial with many families present on the seaside of Pingtan and its ocher rocks.
Despite the sudden rise in tensions in the Taiwan Strait, tourists casually sip coffee or coconut juice.
Others pose in front of a giant stamp representing the Chinese coasts and Taiwan, an emblematic monument of Pingtan.
“Relations with Taiwan are not excellent at the moment. But they are stable,” said Mr. Wu, met on a walk with his companion by 17 degrees.
“What situation?” Asks a young woman in her twenties on condition of anonymity. “Nothing is happening,” she says in tune with the responses heard by AFP.
Many tourists claim not to have heard of these military exercises or to be unaware of their importance, while army helicopters flew over the area on Friday.
These operations are retaliation for the meeting Wednesday in the United States between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Kevin McCarthy the third figure of the American government.
The Chinese authorities, who do not recognize power in Taiwan and claim sovereignty over the island, consider this meeting as a serious provocation.
The maneuvers in progress aim at a repetition of a “total encirclement” of Taiwan, according to Chinese state television.
Warships, fast missile launchers, fighter planes, tankers and jammers are notably mobilized for these exercises.
“As an ordinary person, I just hope mainland China is doing well as well as Taiwan,” Lin said.
After all, “we are a big family,” he insists, using an expression regularly used by the Chinese authorities.
04/08/2023 12:54:00 – Pingtan (Chine) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP