The 823 Artillery Bombardment refers to the conflict that started on Aug. 23, 1958, the day that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) started to shell Kinmen County and Lienchiang County’s Matsu Islands. It was not until Jan. 1, 1979, that the bombardment truly ended.
The reason for the bombardment ending was because the US established diplomatic ties with the PRC, recognizing it as the sole representative of China. Kinmen and Matsu, which historically belonged to China, became an umbilical cord connecting Taiwan and China.
In 1994, then-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Shih Ming-teh (施明德), along with several Kinmen and Lienchiang county councilors, proposed withdrawing troops from the outlying islands.
When the 1950 Korean War erupted, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) proposed the same idea, as maintaining military troops there was a severe financial burden.
Nowadays, Kinmen and Lienchiang have become a symbol between Taiwan and China, and residents of the islands possess an ambiguous identity.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) announced his intention to secure a “Kinmen peace declaration” while pursuing his bromance with Taiwan People’s Party Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) under the moonlight in Kinmen. They shared their schemes as they listened to the waves crashing.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Wednesday commemorated the soldiers who died in Kinmen. Meanwhile, Ko and Gou, as well as New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, were in Kinmen as campaign rallies ramp up ahead of next year’s presidential election.
In politics, a “declaration” should refer to a consensus by two or more sides. Gou’s idea for a Kinmen peace declaration would involve Taiwan and China, yet neither has reached a consensus on the matter.
Under the “status quo,” his idea should be a mere “proposal.” That he failed to differentiate between a “declaration” and a “proposal” exposes his lack of political competence, raising questions about his suitability for the position of president.
[Gou has not announced his candidacy.]
In 1999, then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) proposed “special state-to-state relations” between the PRC and the Republic of China (ROC), which was in the “proposal” category. Lee would never have confused a proposal with a declaration.
In Lee’s proposal, he seriously contemplated and tried to include China’s perspective.
However, China did not respond well.
Can any of the presidential candidates or potential candidates who are calling for peace, but want to replace Tsai and beat the DPP’s candidate, Vice President William Lai (賴清德) — who were successors of Lee’s spirit — provide a cogent solution?
Years ago I proposed a conservation area in Kinmen and Lienchiang where the ROC could continue to exist. Based on the historical heritage, a free-trade zone could be set up, which could also capitalize on the tourism industry, boosting the local economy. Most importantly, it would be a buffer zone between Taiwan and China.
If residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang agreed, the ROC could be a museum preserving the party-state system in reality, satisfying those who have a historical attachment to that system.
In that way, maybe Taiwan could become a normal country.
On the anniversary of the 823 Artillery Bombardment, hopefully my humble opinions would spur a new discussion about the future of Kinmen and Matsu, giving Taiwan and China more options with which to walk toward peace.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
Translated by Lee Chieh-yu
Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention. If it makes headlines, it is because China wants to invade. Yet, those who find their way here by some twist of fate often fall in love. If you ask them why, some cite numbers showing it is one of the freest and safest countries in the world. Others talk about something harder to name: The quiet order of queues, the shared umbrellas for anyone caught in the rain, the way people stand so elderly riders can sit, the
Taiwan’s fall would be “a disaster for American interests,” US President Donald Trump’s nominee for undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby said at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday last week, as he warned of the “dramatic deterioration of military balance” in the western Pacific. The Republic of China (Taiwan) is indeed facing a unique and acute threat from the Chinese Communist Party’s rising military adventurism, which is why Taiwan has been bolstering its defenses. As US Senator Tom Cotton rightly pointed out in the same hearing, “[although] Taiwan’s defense spending is still inadequate ... [it] has been trending upwards
After the coup in Burma in 2021, the country’s decades-long armed conflict escalated into a full-scale war. On one side was the Burmese army; large, well-equipped, and funded by China, supported with weapons, including airplanes and helicopters from China and Russia. On the other side were the pro-democracy forces, composed of countless small ethnic resistance armies. The military junta cut off electricity, phone and cell service, and the Internet in most of the country, leaving resistance forces isolated from the outside world and making it difficult for the various armies to coordinate with one another. Despite being severely outnumbered and
After the confrontation between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday last week, John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, discussed this shocking event in an interview. Describing it as a disaster “not only for Ukraine, but also for the US,” Bolton added: “If I were in Taiwan, I would be very worried right now.” Indeed, Taiwanese have been observing — and discussing — this jarring clash as a foreboding signal. Pro-China commentators largely view it as further evidence that the US is an unreliable ally and that Taiwan would be better off integrating more deeply into
RSS