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Video shows Taiwanese enjoy bubble bath party during China's wargames

Chinese live-fire drills fail to intimidate partygoers on Taiwan's Dongyin Island

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Dancer sprays crowd with water "machine gun" on Dongyin Island. (Lii Wen photo)

Dancer sprays crowd with water "machine gun" on Dongyin Island. (Lii Wen photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Video surfaced on Saturday (Aug. 6) showing revelers enjoying a bubble bath party on a Taiwanese island off the coast of China despite being at the height of the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) wargames and flights of military drones over the island.

Using U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan as a pretext, China launched four days of massive military exercises and live-fire drills in six zones around Taiwan from Aug. 4 to 7. On Saturday, PLA unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were spotted flying off Liang Island and Dongyin Island in the Matsu archipelago, which is part of Lienchiang County.

Video shows Taiwanese enjoy bubble bath party during China's wargames
Blue dot shows proximity of Dongyin Island to China. (Twitter, Lii Wen image)

Despite the unprecedented scale and scope of the Chinese military exercises around Taiwan, ordinary Taiwanese went about their daily lives as usual, with the government not issuing a single text alert about any of the exercises and popular tourist destinations still packed with visitors. Despite being situated off the coast of China, Dongyin Island was no exception, as people actually flocked to see Taiwan's own live-fire drills and took part in an electronic dance music (EDM) party.

On Friday (Aug. 5), Taiwan's Army also conducted live-fire exercises in Lienchiang County's Dongyin Township from 6-9 p.m. During the exercises, witnesses gave differing accounts of either tracer fire or flares landing on a hill behind Sanjia Village on Xiyin Island and starting a fire, which was later extinguished without causing injuries or property damage.

Video shows Taiwanese enjoy bubble bath party during China's wargames
Participants warming up for race. (Twitter, Lii Wen photo)

Lii Wen (李問), the head of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chapter in Matsu, on Saturday posted a video on Twitter showing a large crowd dancing to the EDM song "Let's Get Fu**ed Up" by MAKJ and Lil Jon as they were blasted by cannons shooting foam. On the stage, dancers in bikinis could be seen spraying the crowd with a water cannon shaped like a machine gun under Zhongcheng Gate, which commemorates the island's military history.

In his tweet, Lii mockingly called Beijing's four-day drills the "4th Taiwan Strait Crisis" and pointed out that Dongyin is only 50 kilometers from China. He noted that many of the tourists had come to the island to take part in an annual military-style obstacle course race called the Dongyin Military Trail Challenge.

Video shows Taiwanese enjoy bubble bath party during China's wargames
Competitors run in Military Trail Challenge. (Twitter, Lii Wen photo)

Lii observed that Taiwanese remain cautious about the latest developments, and the troops in the offshore islands have raised their level of alertness, "but people don't panic over the drills or cave in to fear." He asserted that reports about Taiwan being under a blockade are "overblown."

He pointed out that the local tourism industry has remained unaffected, with all ferry routes and planes connecting Matsu to the main island of Taiwan operating smoothly on schedule, as well as pre-planned events such as the race. Lii said that Taiwanese realize that the exercises are a limited display of force for China to express its "dissatisfaction" and is not an act intended to escalate into a full-blown war.

Video shows Taiwanese enjoy bubble bath party during China's wargames
People dancing in foam to EDM music in front of Zhongcheng Gate. (Twitter, Lii Wen photo)

However, Lii argued that such aggressive actions are "not helpful at all for China to improve its relations with the world." He then called on the international community to condemn "such irresponsible behavior."