‘It feels quite normal to me’

For residents of Penghu island, life goes on despite the looming spectre of China, writes Sean Chang

Since moving from Taiwan’s capital to the outlying Penghu islands for the peace and the fishing 11 years ago, Lin Chih-cheng has grown accustomed to the roar of Chinese fighter jets puncturing the lull of the surf.

“If there’s a day where they don’t take off, it feels weird,” laughed Mr Lin, an affable 61-year-old who runs a juice stall with his wife on the western Xiyu Islet.

The archipelago’s location about 50 kilometres out in the Taiwan Strait means it is likely to be on the front line of any potential invasion by China — a perennial possibility that has loomed ever larger in the last few years.

Beijing claims all of Taiwan as its territory, and its pledge to take it by force if necessary has begun to seem less farfetched as China projects an increasingly aggressive stance on the world stage.

But in the sleepy fishing towns on the islands, many locals are sanguine despite the frequent — and noisy — reminders of the military threat.

“Everyone says tension between both sides is high now, but I am not worried,” said Mr Lin. “I have confidence that our government is not beating the war drum.”

Xiyu’s azure waters and twisting, heart-shaped stone weirs have made it an Instagrammer’s paradise.

Business is good at the juice stall, where Mr Lin and his wife blend cactus fruit and ice flower into sweet, cold drinks for a stream of thirsty tourists.

Just down the road are a very different set of customers — the soldiers at a Sky Bow base, home to Taiwan’s surface-to-air anti-ballistic missile and anti-aircraft defence systems.

“I actually do a lot of deliveries to the base,” Mr Lin said. “I have been inside. It feels quite normal to me.”

The presence of troops has been a fact of life for decades on the island, where they are seen more as a source of income than one of dread.

“People from both sides [of the strait], we actually share the same language and culture,” Mr Lin said.

“Who wants war? We actually get along with each other. The affairs of those in power are none of our business.”

But Penghu has found itself at the mercy of geopolitical forces many times throughout its history.

“Penghu is a hard-to-defend place,” Chen Ing-jin, a 67-year-old local historian and architect, said. “It’s flat and has many coastal areas, which makes it very hard to prevent possible landings.”

The Dutch, French and Japanese all invaded with little trouble, and signs of war — past and present — are everywhere.

The historic forts, now there for tourists rather than defence, have been replaced by serious modern firepower.

In addition to Sky Bow, the islands also harbour Hsiung Feng II antiship cruise missile bases — Mr Chen helped build one of them during his military service.

Xiyu also hosts a radar station that would give vital early warning of any planned attack.

Those are all reasons Beijing might choose to take the islands before any attempt on Taiwan’s main island in a bid to disable the military instalments and gain a resupply base.

Few locals think they would stand much chance against China’s People’s Liberation Army.

“Their ships will surround the islands and that will be it. There’s nothing we can do about it but accept,” said Mr Chen’s friend, Wang Hsu-sheng.

Like many, Mr Wang’s family history tracks the islands’ tumultuous changing of hands. His father was put to work in naval yards under the Japanese occupation, and only returned to the family business after their withdrawal at the end of World War II.

Mr Wang, now 70, said China’s actions over the last few years have made him “very uncomfortable”.

“The Chinese are like the Russians. What’s yours is mine. What’s mine is still mine,” he said, referencing the recent invasion of Ukraine.

‘‘ Who wants war? We actually get along with each other. The affairs of those in power are none of our business.

LIN CHIH-CHENG PENGHU RESIDENT