Hopes for ‘reunification’ a fact of life on China’s window to Taiwan

Atop rock formations overlooking a vast coastline, groups of Chinese tourists snap pictures and gaze out to sea with binoculars in the direction of Taiwan’s main island, just over a hundred kilometers away. Taipei has this week accused China of launching its biggest maritime drills in years, with about 60 warships and 30 coastguard vessels deployed, spanning from near the southern islands of Japan to the South China Sea. Beijing has not confirmed the exercises are taking place. At a scenic park on Pingtan — a Chinese island that is the closest point to Taiwan’s main island — visitors were…