In a small city garden on Yong Kang Jie, Taipei’s famous restaurant street, an elderly lady leans against her friend’s parked bicycle and shouts: “Taiwan remains an independent country!” It is a quiet autumn morning. Children play on a nearby slide and a young mother enjoys eating from a take-away bento box. But a hot topic is discussed in the spontaneous Speaker’s Corner. The petite 70-year-old’s eyes flash over her medical face mask as she speaks again after her friend Lin interrupted her. She insisted that Taiwan and its people should not seek confrontation by provoking China. Then what she calls “70 years of tyranny” might intensify. Her friend, on the other hand, yells out loud: “It is clearly our country and not China!” Her fist is even raised before she turns away.
Ms. Lin, who refuses to give her first name, insists that Taiwanese shouldn’t cause trouble. “The best thing will be not to contradict. You should be friendly to one another – not fight. We all want to live in peace. China has promised not to invade as long as Taiwan refrains from declaring independence. “
Tai Chi im Park
The loud but good-natured debate in the open says a lot about Taiwan today – close ties, sometimes also division, fear, and defiance as well. In everyday life there is a vital democracy that has not existed for a long time in politics, as authoritarianism was only shaken off two decades ago.
Beijing insists on seeing Taiwan as a breakaway province from the mainland that must return for the dream of national renewal to be fulfilled. President Tsai Ing-wen is referred to as a “separatist” in China. She herself lectures coolly that the country is already a sovereign nation that does not even need to make declarations of independence. Your government appears to believe that as long as Taiwan remains silent and does not take risky steps, peace will be maintained. The front pages of newspapers warn all the more of an impending conflict with China and assure that world powers and many states in the region are counted among the allies. The main tenor of the media: “China wants to take freedom from Taiwan!”
The people of Taipei have lived with a possible invasion for decades. Worrying about it, some say, is just like being afraid of an earthquake. When Taiwan was recently on the front page of Economist was described as “the most dangerous place in the world”, many rolled their eyes. While concerns have increased significantly since China expressed sincere determination in the person of President Xi Jinping, everyday life and life go on. In Taipei, pandemic restrictions have largely been lifted, with people re-filling restaurants and night markets, returning to the beaches, and hiking in the mountains for long weekends. In the mornings in the city parks you can see groups of older men and women performing tai chi or a traditional dance under tall ficus and banyan trees, while students cycle towards the university in between. The evening and online news report on the Covid vaccination quota, the election of new party leaderships, political scandals, celebrity gossip. The fact that planes of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army sometimes appear in Taiwanese airspace can be found as isolated news among other headlines. “I’m not worried,” said 18-year-old Cho, who is studying electrical engineering at National Taiwan University. “You have been calling for the invasion of Taiwan for dozens of years, but I don’t see you are really preparing for it.”
Cho and his fellow students Chen and Yeh tell in the busy university canteen that they want to graduate soon and look for good jobs. They follow political issues only moderately, but are well acquainted with recent developments. The fact that Taiwan is now receiving a lot of international attention should not be underestimated. “But the possibility of an attack is relatively small because the eyes of the world are on Beijing,” Yeh believes. “It can happen and yet it is almost impossible. If China attacks, it would not only be a matter between China and Taiwan, it would also affect other countries. ”After graduation, they will enroll in the army for four compulsory months of basic training, a consequence of their gradual but not complete waiver on conscription. This ambivalence is often pointed out when analysts judge the combat effectiveness of the Taiwanese armed forces.
The government has been increasing the military budget for years and using a “porcupine” defense strategy. That said, it makes the island hard to swallow. In any case, there are hardly any suitable landing points on a strongly rugged coast. The Taiwanese military has always believed that they could prevent an onslaught of marines, if not an air strike. The fighting spirit has been less vocal since the beginning of October, and President Tsai Ing-wen and her ministers are exercising caution and emphasizing Taiwan’s contribution to the global community through a successful pandemic response. Taiwan is not after war – so Tsai last said in her speeches – but they have the will to defend themselves. Observers consider her a more moderate advocate of the status quo than other politicians from her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who are more concerned with independence and who could succeed them in the next election in 2024.
A possible declaration of independence by Taiwan remains the red line for Beijing. In Taipei people refer to Hong Kong, where a movement for democratization with the demand for independence did not succeed. Finally, China proposed the “one country, two systems” solution for Taiwan. This corresponds to the agreement that is to apply in Hong Kong until 2047, but which will be visibly undermined after the mass protests. The 23-year-old Tsai Jya-en looks at Hong Kong with great concern: “It was very free there, just like in Taiwan. But everything can change overnight. The people in Taiwan should be more aware of this. “
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