This year’s drills are ten days, twice as long as before. The timing is no accident. Tensions with Beijing remain high. While polls suggest most Taiwanese don’t believe an invasion is imminent, the government is preparing with focus and urgency.

Taiwan does not seek conflict with China and will not provoke confrontation, but Beijing's "aggressive" military posturing is counterproductive, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim said on Friday. China considers democratic Taiwan as part of its own territory and calls President Lai Ching-te a "separatist".