Chinese tourists were milling around a small temple overlooking the glittering sea on an island near Taiwan on Tuesday when they heard thunderous booms from an islet in the distance.<\/p>\n
Rockets streaked across the clear blue sky over Pingtan, just 130 kilometres (80 miles) from Taiwan and the frontline of ongoing Chinese military drills around the self-ruled island.<\/p>\n
Onlookers brandishing phones and selfie sticks rushed towards the ocean to snap the projectiles, which left trails of smoke in their wake.<\/p>\n
“Our country is becoming increasingly strong and prosperous… that’s why it has the capabilities to do this,” Chen, a 63-year old tourist, told AFP after witnessing the scene.<\/p>\n
Chen, visiting from the southwestern province of Sichuan, said she had once enjoyed a trip to Taiwan and hoped “the ultimate outcome” for both sides would be “peaceful unification”.<\/p>\n
Nearby, a group of middle-aged women posed for a photo in front of the temple’s entrance, before shouting in unison: “Unification of the motherland!”<\/p>\n
They had travelled specially from Sichuan to visit China’s nearest point to Taiwan.<\/p>\n
“Looking from here, even if we can’t see it, it feels like we are really close,” a woman surnamed Zhang, 59, told AFP.<\/p>\n
Zhang had also visited Taiwan and said her impression was that its cost of living was very high.<\/p>\n
“Prices there are really expensive, and actually, the elderly there don’t have as high a quality of life as we do,” she said.<\/p>\n
She said the drills were a “deterrent” to those advocating Taiwan independence.<\/p>\n
“If we don’t deter them, those Taiwan separatists will keep inciting their people and maintain a rebellious attitude towards us and the Chinese Communist Party.”<\/p>\n
– Hopes for peace\u00a0–<\/p>\n
AFP reporters saw two coast guard ships in the waters near Pingtan on Tuesday, as well as two fighter jets and a military vessel the previous day.<\/p>\n
China has never ruled out using force to take Taiwan, the democratic island it views as part of its territory.<\/p>\n
Taipei rejects that claim and regards itself as a sovereign nation.<\/p>\n
Pingtan locals were less excited than the tourists, many having become used to seeing fighter jets flying past the island during drills over the past few years.<\/p>\n
In a coastal village, some people drew water from a well while others watched television in their homes, brushing off AFP requests to discuss Taiwan.<\/p>\n
A resident said he was unaware of the drills but that the island had been a popular destination for Taiwanese tourists in the past.<\/p>\n
The man, who did not give his name, praised Taiwan’s ex-president Ma Ying-jeou, who oversaw warmer relations with China.<\/p>\n
“When he came to power, we all went over there (near Taiwan) to fish,” but that has dried up under current leader Lai Ching-te, the 65-year-old told AFP.<\/p>\n
A woman surnamed Nian said she occasionally followed news about Taiwan as her sister lives there with her Taiwanese husband.<\/p>\n
If China ever takes over Taiwan by force, it would be “something they had no choice but to do”, the 58-year-old told AFP outside her home.<\/p>\n
“What we hoped for in our hearts was always peace and harmony.”<\/p>\n
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