As China staged a second day of “punishment” drills on Friday in response to Taiwan’s new President Lai Ching-te, some residents of the democratically governed island told Reuters they would carry on with their normal lives despite Beijing’s pressure.

China staged mock missile strikes in waters east of Taiwan and dispatched fighter jets carrying live missiles, state media reported, as Beijing tested its ability to “seize power” and control key areas of Taiwan.

But on the island of 23 million people, life has continued as normal, with no overt sign of worry, the Taiwanese having got used to decades of living with Chinese threats.

China’s military exercises “don’t really affect our daily lives. We still have to work to make money”, said Chen Sian-en, a tyre repair shop owner in the southern city of Kaohsiung, home to a major Taiwanese navy base.

“From childhood to adulthood, it means that we’ve got used to (China’s) threats,” said Chen, 66, adding that the drills were “some kind of intimidation tactic” and a “show of force” from Beijing to Taiwan’s new leader.

“They’ve talked about it so many times, but there hasn’t been any real action. If they wanted to take over Taiwan, they would have done it already.” While Taiwanese media has covered the drills, a lot of their focus has actually been on continuing protests against efforts by the opposition to push legislative reforms, and occasional fighting by lawmakers on the floor of the chamber.

“I feel no reason to be scared,” said Taipei taxi driver Chuang Jun-sung. “If China really attacks Taiwan, there’s nothing Taiwan can do but deal with it. But we should still have the guts to fire our missiles back at them.”

The drills are being conducted all around Taiwan, as well as areas close to the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and Dongyin next to the Chinese coast.