China-Taiwan tensions are raising fears of a conflict. In Taipei, however, people don't seem worried
China has stepped up pressure on Taiwan in recent weeks, flying dozens of warplanes near the self-ruled island in a show of strength that has put the entire region on edge.
But at a park in the Taiwanese capital on Thursday, the topic of conversation was about anything but the potential for conflict between Beijing and the island it considers part of its territory.
Huang and Chang, both grandmothers in their 80s, said they had spent the morning with friends chatting about snacks, tea and whether they should do some exercise.
War is not something they worry about, they said.
"We don't worry about it at all. The threat has always been there and there's nothing to worry about. If it were going to happen, it would've had happened a long time ago," said Huang, who said she preferred to be called Grandma Huang.
Their relaxed attitude stands in stark contrast to recent military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait and terse statements from leaders in mainland China and Taiwan, which have been governed separately since the end of a civil war more than seven decades ago.
"We are all Chinese"
Taiwanese and US officials have publicly estimated that Beijing could have the capacity to invade the island within the next six years.
But on the streets of Taipei, the mood this week was mostly relaxed and confident. While a few people said they were a bit worried about threats of forced "reunification" by Beijing, many believed the Chinese government would never really go ahead with it.
"I think mainland China and Taiwan have always co-existed peacefully. There are Taiwanese people in mainland China, and there are mainland people here in Taiwan. We are all Chinese people," said Vicky Tsai, 38, a market trader in Taipei.
Vicky Tsai, a pork seller in Taipei, said China and Taiwan had managed to live peacefully together for the past 70 years.
The trader said military tensions didn't really have much impact on most people's daily lives, dismissing them as "games played by the upper class." "I think it is more important to earn money," she said.
Incursions by China's People's Liberation Army Air Force into Taiwan's ADIZ have become so routine in fact -- nearly 400 since May, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry -- that the sorties rarely even make front page news domestically.
TLDR- People in Taiwan aren't worried about war with China, and believe nothing is going to happen, in spite of the West constantly making a big deal about it. One lady they interviewed even said that Taiwan and China can peacefully co-exist as they are all Chinese people.