As Taiwan’s government races to counter China, most people aren’t worried about war
Associated PressTAIPEI, Taiwan — As People’s Liberation Army fighter jets from China sped toward Taiwan on Friday, life on the self-governing island carried on as normal. “In order to keep the peace, we need to strengthen ourselves,” Tsai said last month at a war memorial commemorating the last time Taiwan and China battled. Those attitudes don’t translate directly into views on relations with the mainland, Yu said, but among the majority who identify as Taiwanese there has been a subtle shift toward favoring the status quo for now, but with “eventual independence.” Huang, the restaurant owner, said he was taught in school that he was Chinese, but as an adult came to consider himself just Taiwanese. He says the Chinese population is “brainwashed.” Personally, he wants independence now, but he also said he can wait until more of Taiwan’s public is convinced. “We’ve read the history, including the clan records, and we are clear that we came from the mainland, and came from people who had landed in Taiwan, and grew up here.” Chen, who is from Taichung in central Taiwan, traveled to China many times as a young athlete, starting in 1990.