If in a conflict between America and China it is Taiwan that will be the front line, then in a confrontation between Taiwan and China that role will be played by Kinmen, an island that is 187km from Taiwan
Kinmen, just 150 sq km, is the main island in an archipelagic Taiwanese county of 142,000 residents at the mouth of Xiamen Bay, nestling up against Fujian province in southern China . Rusting anti-ship barricades line its beaches. The skyline of Xiamen, a sub-provincial but by comparison massive Chinese city just across the water, is visible from its shores. In 2001to Xiamen, turning the island into a centre of tourism and business exchange.
For decades, Kinmen endured routine shelling from China even as Taiwan turned the county into a garrison, with as many as 100,000 soldiers stationed there. Kinmenese were forced to carry supplies for the soldiers, to live under curfew and to train in village fighting units from the age of 16. Hong Ming-hwa, 88, was a dock worker when China subjected Kinmen to a burst of shelling in 1958, firing more than 470,000 shells in 44 days. More than 600 people died.
Supporters of demilitarisation also blame Taiwan, not China, for threatening Kinmen’s safety. China does not want to attack Kinmen in the first place because they are family, argues Mr Chen, the councillor. But the 3,000 Taiwanese soldiers stationed on Kinmen are a “thorn” in China’s side that should be removed, he says. “If we pose no threat, they won’t hurt us,” he says.
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