BEIJING: The Chinese military released an animated short film on National Day showing pieces of a scroll painting torn in two more than 300 years ago being reunited, in a show of the mainland’s determination to bring self-ruled Taiwan into the fold.
On National Day yesterday, the People’s Liberation Army’s eastern theatre command, known for belligerent videos of exercises around Taiwan, released an animated short film called “Dreams Come True on Fuchun River”, appealing to the shared cultural roots of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. At the end of the movie, the two characters came together, magically making the painting whole again.
But in recent years, as relations have cooled, China has ramped up military activities around Taiwan, including drills over the past month that Beijing said were targeted at combating separatist forces.