2024-03-16 16:50:55
On February 20, 2024, a fishing boat sailed in the waters between Kinmen and Xiamen.Reuters
A series of accidents involving Chinese fishing boats in Kinmen waters, and Chinese Coast Guard ships taking the opportunity to enter restricted waters in Kinmen, have triggered heightened tensions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Al Jazeera Qatar interviewed young Chinese people and analyzed US research, reporting that the young Chinese generation actually does not want to wage war once morest Taiwan, and that they are more concerned regarding more immediate issues such as China’s economy.
Shao Hongtian (pseudonym), a 23-year-old Chinese man, was walking on Xiamen Beach. “It’s hard to imagine that this place was used as a battlefield before,” he told Al Jazeera. He pointed to the sea and might see Kinmen in the distance.
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Before the COVID-19 epidemic, Shao Hongtian, like many other Chinese citizens, once had the opportunity to apply for a tourist visa to visit Taiwan, but this has disappeared since the epidemic. He looked in the direction of Kinmen and said: “Kinmen, China and Taiwan are all part of the same country, so it should be possible to visit. I hope to go there one day.”
Al Jazeera reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a 2024 New Year’s message at the end of last year, saying that “the reunification of the motherland is a historical necessity.” Last year, he also ordered the People’s Liberation Army to prepare for war. In recent years, China has continued to increase pressure on Taiwan by disrupting Taiwan with shared aircraft and ships. Recently, tensions in the restricted waters of Kinmen have been heightened due to the deaths of Chinese fishermen and the disappearance of crew members overboard.
Shao Hongtian said that hostility cannot reunify China and Taiwan. “I hope that reunification can happen peacefully.” If it does not happen, then he prefers to maintain the status quo. He believes that his friends have the same idea. If they have the opportunity to go to Kinmen and Taiwan, they should go as tourists rather than soldiers.
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A study published last year by the 21st Century China Center at the University of California, San Diego showed that Shao Hongtian and his friends were not just a minority of Chinese people who opposed war once morest Taiwan.
This study analyzed the Chinese public’s support for different policy steps to reunify Taiwan and found that regarding one-third of Chinese respondents said they would not accept launching a full-scale war to achieve reunification, and only 1% opposed all options other than war. .
The findings are inconsistent with the Chinese government’s claim that the Chinese people are willing to “pay all costs and do whatever it takes” to achieve reunification. In addition, research also shows that China’s younger generations are more disgusted with the authorities’ strong policies than older generations.
“I think many young people will refuse to die attacking Taiwan,” Shao Hongtian said.
Wei Mia, a 26-year-old woman who works as a marketing specialist in Shanghai, was not surprised by the research results. She said: “Ordinary Chinese people do not want to push the government to achieve unification. It is the government that forces the people to believe that unification is necessary.”
Al Jazeera reported that the proportion of Chinese people who support reunification is similar to similar studies in previous years. This shows that even as Taiwan Strait relations become increasingly tense, the CCP’s Taiwan-related talk has not softened, but the proportion of people who support more forceful measures has not increased accordingly.
Weimia said that Chinese people like her would be more concerned regarding domestic development. She said: “First there was the COVID-19 epidemic, then the economy deteriorated, and then the housing market deteriorated. I think the Chinese people are more concerned regarding other more important things than reunifying Taiwan.”
Ye Yaoyuan, associate professor of Chinese studies at the University of St. Thomas in the United States, pointed out that U.S. President Biden has stated on many occasions that if China uses force once morest Taiwan, the United States will assist Taiwan’s defense. In addition, the United States has strengthened military cooperation with Taiwan’s neighboring countries such as the Philippines and Japan, “(China ) does not guarantee a quick victory in the Taiwan War.”
Ye Yaoyuan said: “Many Chinese have business partners, friends or family members in Taiwan. In fact, they do not want to see the island and its people harmed.”
Eric Chan, a non-resident fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute (GTI), a think tank in Washington, pointed out: “‘Reunification’ is not an issue that can be debated in any form with the public.”
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