Inside Taiwan’s China crisis that could start World War Three – The Times Feedzy

There’s something strangely exhilarating about the thud of artillery fire, providing it’s not aimed at you. In this case it’s the crack of CM-11 tanks pounding an empty hillside that has me somewhere between thrilled and terrified. Illumination flares soar into the night sky. Shells from 105mm cannons smash into targets drawn in chalk. Then two Apache helicopters loom overhead, rattling off chain-gun fire to mop up the imagined enemy.

I am watching this dress rehearsal in Hengchun, on the southern tip of Taiwan, as a group of Taiwanese military units conduct their “joint valour” annual exercises. It’s not stated explicitly, but everyone watching knows exactly who is supposed to be on that hillside. China, the geopolitical megalodon lurking 100 miles away across the stormy