University student Feng Hao of Taiwan and his parents worry increasingly of an attack from mainland China, just 60 kilometers from their island. The number of Chinese military planes flown through a corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone surged to 125 in the first days of October. His parents imagine that in their lifespan, they will see “the Chinese PLA stepping onto Taiwanese soil,” said Feng, 21 in New Taipei City. If that happens, he said, they want him to “seek asylum” in a safe place, possibly a European country.
“A lot of people said Taiwan is safe, but for me I feel like internationally it does not make me feel safe, because it’s like under pressure, and the People’s Liberation Army is trying to seek its way to Taiwan,” Feng said.
China claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan and has not ruled out use of force if needed to capture it. The recent flights take place over a sea more than 100 kilometers west of Taiwan in a corner of its air defense zone that’s also near the Chinese south coast.
