Kinmen (金門), also known as Quemoy, is a small archipelago Archipelagos can be found isolated in bodies of water; or with a large land mass may neighbour them. For example, Scotland has more than 700 islands surrounding its mainland. Archipelagos are often volcanic, forming along island arcs generated by subduction zones or hotspots, but there are many other processes involved in their construction, of several islands administered by the Republic of China The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia comprising the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor islands located off the east coast of mainland China. Neighbouring states include the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the west, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south (ROC): Greater Kinmen (大金門), Lesser Kinmen Lieyu or Lesser Kinmen is one of the islands of the Kinmen group. It is in the Taiwan Strait, on the coast of Fujian. Geographically it is very near to Xiamen (Amoy). Administratively the island forms the Lieyu Township (烈嶼鄉) the Kinmen County of the Fuchien Province of the Republic of China. The People's Republic of China claims the Kinmen, and some islets As suggested by its origin as islette, an Old French diminutive of "isle", use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability. Administratively, it is Kinmen County of Fukien Province, Republic of China Fujian Province is a province on the coast of southeastern China. Since 1949, Fujian has been split between two separate governments: the vast majority of Fujian province has been governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC); while a number of offshore islands have been governed by the Republic of China (ROC) government in Taiwan. The PRC and. The county is claimed as part of Fujian Fujian is a province on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait. The name Fujian came from the combination of Fuzhou and Jian'ou, two cities in Fujian, during the Tang Dynasty. It is one of the most culturally and's Quanzhou Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city in Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders all other prefecture-level cities in Fujian but two (Ningde and Nanping) and faces the Taiwan Strait. In older English works, its name may appear as Chinchew or Chinchu or Zayton Prefecture by the People's Republic of China (PRC). Some islands of other counties, such as Wuchiu Wuciou is a group of islands comprising two major islands, namely Greater Ciou Islet and Smaller Ciou Islet, in the Taiwan Strait. Administratively the Wuciou Township is part of Kinmen County of the Fujian Province of the Republic of China. Its name means "black mound", were transferred to the jurisdiction of Kinmen County by the ROC government following its civil war The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China (CPC). The war began in April 1927, amidst the Northern Expedition. The war represented an ideological split between the Western-supported Nationalist KMT and the Soviet-supported Communist CPC. In the People's Republic of China the war is more commonly known defeat and retreat to Taiwan. Matsu The Matsu Islands are a minor archipelago of 19 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait administered as Lienchiang County(連江縣; Lièng-gŏng-gâing), Fujian Province of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Not all of what is historically part of Lienchiang county is under the control of the ROC. The People's Republic of China controls the part of is the other set of islands on the Fujian coast controlled by the ROC.
Many of the county's inhabitants speak the Southern Min language The Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , ("Southern Fujian" language) is a family of Chinese languages which are spoken in southern Fujian and its neighbouring regions, Taiwan, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora (Hokkien Hokkien is a dialect of Min Nan Chinese spoken in southern Fujian, Taiwan, and by many overseas Chinese throughout Southeast Asia. The language is also known by other terms such as Minnanyu (simplified Chinese: 闽南语; traditional Chinese: 閩南語; pinyin: MǐnNánYǔ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bân-lâm-gí), Fulaohua (simplified Chinese: 福佬话;). Due to their previous political isolation, most residents will say they speak "Kinmenese", as opposed to "Taiwanese Taiwanese Hokkien is a variant of Min Nan, closely related to the Amoy dialect. It is often seen as a Chinese dialect within the larger Sinitic language family. On the other hand, it may also be seen as an independent language since it is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin[citation needed]. As with most “language/dialect” distinctions," as it is commonly called in Taiwan, though the two dialects are mutually intelligible. It is geographically very near Xiamen Xiamen , also known as Amoy (English: /ˈæmɔɪ/), is a coastal city in southeastern China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city under Fujian province in the People's Republic of China. It looks out to the Taiwan Strait and borders Quanzhou to the north and Zhangzhou to the south, no more than 2 kilometers. The residents of Wuchiu Township speak Puxian Min Puxian , also known as Xinghua is a subcategory of Min Chinese, as opposed to Min-nan for the rest of Kinmen.
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History
See also: List of battles over Kinmen The mainland Chinese city of Xiamen is within shelling distance of the small islands of Kinmen. As one of the front line islands between the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China, ROC-governed Kinmen has seen many battles and tensions between the two throughout the Cold War. It was generally understood by both the ROC and the PRCUnlike the island of Taiwan Taiwan, also known as Formosa , is an island situated in East Asia in the Western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, and comprises most of the territory of the Republic of China (ROC) since the 1950s. The term "Taiwan" has also become a commonly used alternative name both domestically and and the Penghu 'Peng-hu' was first recorded in unofficial historical records and regional logs in 1171 during the Southern Song Dynasty. From the middle of the 17th century to 1895, Taiwan and the archipelago were ruled by pirates, the colonial Dutch Empire , the Koxinga kingdom, and the Qing Dynasty, successively islands, Kinmen was never ceded to Japan, because Kinmen was, and still is considered to be a part of Fujian province, both to the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China, though Kinmen was occupied by Japan from 1937 to 1945.
The island was the site of extensive shelling between PRC and ROC forces during the first The First Taiwan Strait Crisis was a short armed conflict that took place between the governments of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). The PRC seized the Yijiangshan Islands, forcing the ROC to abandon the Tachen Islands. The United States and the ROC Navies joined forces to evacuate ROC military personnel and and Second Taiwan Strait Crisis The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was a conflict that took place between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (ROC) governments in which the PRC shelled the islands of Matsu and Quemoy in the Taiwan Strait in an attempt to seize them from the Republic of China, being also a major issue in the 1960 United States Presidential Election The United States presidential election of 1960 marked the end of Dwight D. Eisenhower's two terms as President. Eisenhower's Vice President, Richard Nixon, who had transformed his office into a national political base, was the Republican candidate, whereas the Democrats nominated Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy between Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963 and Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States from 1969–1974 and was also the 36th Vice President of the United States (1953–1961). Nixon was the only President to resign the office and also the only person to be elected twice to both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency. In the 1950s, the United States threatened to use nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter; a modern thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than a thousand kilograms can produce an explosion against the PRC if it attacked the island.
Kinmen was originally a military reserve. However, the island was returned to the civilian government in the mid-1990s, and travel to and from Taiwan Taiwan, also known as Formosa , is an island situated in East Asia in the Western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, and comprises most of the territory of the Republic of China (ROC) since the 1950s. The term "Taiwan" has also become a commonly used alternative name both domestically and was allowed.
Direct travel between mainland China Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China on the Asian mainland. This term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau and Kinmen was opened in 2002, and there has been extensive tourism development on the island in anticipation of mainland tourists. Direct travel was suspended in 2003 as a result of the SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV). There has been one near pandemic to date, between the months of November 2002 and July 2003, with 8,096 known infected cases and 774 deaths (a case-fatality rate of 9.6%) worldwide being listed in the World Health Organization's outbreak, but has since resumed. Many Taiwanese businesspeople use this link to enter the Chinese Mainland Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China , excluding Hong Kong and Macau, which are under the jurisdiction of the PRC but run on different economic and political systems. The term never includes Taiwan as it is seen as cheaper and easier than entering through Hong Kong, however, this changed following the 2005 Pan-Blue visits to mainland China The 2005 Pan-Blue visits to mainland China were a series of groundbreaking visits by delegations of the Kuomintang to mainland China. They were hailed as the highest level of exchange between the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang since Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong met in Chongqing, China on August 28, 1945 and the presidential The election for the 12th-term President and Vice-President of the Republic of China was held in the Republic of China on Saturday, March 22, 2008. Kuomintang (KMT) nominee Ma Ying-jeou won, with 58% of the vote, ending eight years of Democratic Progressive Party rule. Along with the 2008 legislative election, Ma's landslide victory brought the and legislative Legislative elections were held on January 12, 2008 in the Republic of China . The results gave the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Pan-Blue Coalition a supermajority (86 of the 113 seats) in the legislature, handing a heavy defeat to then-President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party, which won the remaining 27 seats only. The junior partner victories of the KMT, that allowed easier Cross-Strait relations Cross-Strait relations refers to the relations between mainland China, which sits to the west of the Taiwan Strait, and Taiwan, which sits to the east; especially the relations between their respective governments, the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). The island has thus experienced an economic boom as businesspeople relocate to the island for easier access to the vast markets of the People's Republic of China.
Economy
Kinmen's economy is mainly based on tourism and services due to its proximity to mainland China.[1][2]
Tourism
The slogan "Three Principles of the People The Three Principles of the People, also translated as Three People's Principles, or collectively San-min Doctrine, is a political philosophy developed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a philosophy to make China a free, prosperous, and powerful nation. Its legacy of implementation is most apparent in the governmental organization of the Republic of China unite China", located in KinmenKinmen is recognized as a national park A national park is a reserve of natural or semi-natural land, declared or owned by a government, set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, animal and environmental protection and restricted from most development. While ideas for national parks had been suggested previously, what is held to be the first one established was the United States'. Because of its military importance, development on the island was extremely limited. As a result, it is now a popular weekend tourist destination for Taiwanese and is known for its quiet villages, old-style architecture, and beaches. Due to extensive shelling campaigns between the PRC and ROC, Kinmen is famous for its Artillery Shell Knives The Kinmen Knife is a knife exclusively made in Kinmen County in Fuchien Province of the Republic of China. The knives were once made from the remains of artillery shells fired by the U.S. and Allied forces in World War II, and by Mainland China between 1958 and 1978. Local artisans would collect the vast amounts of exploded ordnance and make high-quality knives which are still sought after by chefs and connoisseurs. Kinmen is also home of the locally famous Kinmen Kaoliang Kaoliang jiu (literally "sorghum liquor"; often called simply kaoliang or sorghum wine) is a strong distilled liquor, made from fermented sorghum (which is called gāoliáng in Chinese). It is made and sold in both mainland China and Taiwan, and also popular in Korea, where it is called goryangju (hangul: 고량주; hanja: 高粱酒) liquor, a spirit ranging between 38 and 63 percent alcohol, which is highly appreciated by the Taiwanese. The Kinmen Airport Kinmen Airport (IATA: KNH, ICAO: RCBS) is a civilian airport serving Kinmen, Fujian Province, Republic of China (Taiwan). It was built in 1994 as a civilian airport located at Shang-I, to the northeastern side of the original military airport. It was authorized to become a C-class airport under the direct supervision of Civil Aeronautics is located on the bigger island.
Politics
The island consistently votes for the Kuomintang The Kuomintang of China (KMT); (Hanyu Pinyin: Guómíndǎng, GMD), translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party or Chinese National People's Party, is a political party of the Republic of China (Taiwan, ROC). It can be seen romanized as Guomindang (according to the Pinyin transcription system) in some contexts. It is the founding and the ruling (KMT). Until the early 1990s, proponents of Taiwan independence Taiwan independence is a political movement whose goal is primarily to create an independent and sovereign Republic of Taiwan out of the lands currently governed by the Republic of China (commonly known as "Taiwan") and claimed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) argued that they would consider handing Kinmen over to the PRC in any negotiated settlement. Residents of the island have broadly opposed such measures, fearing the consequences of the PRC government's policies on their standard of living and political freedom.
Townships
Subdivision of Kinmen County into townshipsAll those townships on Greater Kinmen Island start their names with Jin ("gold"). Lieyu Township encompasses the entire Lesser Kinmen Island, and is the closest to Xiamen. Wuqiu Township comprises Greater Qiu Islet (大坵) and Lesser Qiu Islet (小坵).
Jincheng and Jinsha are the largest of the six townships. Altogether, there are 37 Kinmen villages, three of which – all in Zhen (鎮) – are Li-villages (里); the rest are Cun-villages (村).
Education
The National Kinmen Institute of Technology (國立金門技術學院) is located in Jinning Township, Kinmen.
Gallery
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Calligraphy by former President Chiang Kai-shek etched on a rock in Kinmen reads, "Forget not what happened in Jǔ" - an allusion to the Warring States Period when the State of Qi, cornered into the City of Ju by the State of Yan, successfully counterattacked and retook its territory. This is intended as an analogy to the situation between the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China. Other slogans alluding to "retaking the mainland" can still be found in Kinmen. |
The Juguang ("Brightness of Ju") Tower, a famous landmark in Kinmen. |
Jincheng, the county seat of Kinmen. |
See also
| This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. |
- Matsu Islands
- Administrative divisions of the Republic of China
- Township (Taiwan)
- List of cities in the Republic of China (Taiwan)
- Republic of China
- Cross-Strait relations
- Fujian Province, Republic of China
- Fujian Province
- Boyu Road
References
- ^ http://www.gwytb.gov.cn:8088/detail.asp?table=Interactions&title=Cross-strait+Interactions+and+Exchanges&m_id=29
- ^ http://www.chinataiwan.org/english/News/zt/tdl/200310/t20031028_121559.htm
External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kinmen |
| Find more about Kinmen on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
| Definitions from Wiktionary | |
| Textbooks from Wikibooks | |
| Quotations from Wikiquote | |
| Source texts from Wikisource | |
| Images and media from Commons | |
| News stories from Wikinews | |
| Learning resources from Wikiversity | |
- Kinmen travel guide from Wikitravel
- Kinmen County Government Official Website
- Complete list of the villages in each township
- Maps of Kinmen
- Satellite image of Greater Kinmen and Lesser Kinmen by Google Maps
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Coordinates: 24°26′N 118°20′E / 24.44°N 118.33°E
Categories: County-level divisions of Fujian | Ports and harbours of the Republic of China |
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Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:35:27 GMT+00:00
coastline under Chinese trash attack Focus Taiwan News Channel Kinmen , June 21 (CNA) The coastline of the Taiwan-held outlying island of Kinmen has been awash in garbage from China in recent days after several southern ...
PR Newswire Asia
Wed, 21 Jul 2010 06:13:41 GM
Kinmen. National Park is known for legacies from the war decades ago; The Dongsha Atoll Marine National Park was established in January 2007 at the north tip of the South China Sea, marking the southern portal to the Taiwan Strait. ...
Q. I am writing a round-robin story, along with the rest of the Writer's Club that i have joined, about Pirates Vs. Ninjas. I need to know about how long it would take a Pirate ship to start from a major port in Taiwan to Kinmen, China. This pirate ship would have a fresh suppy of food and gunpowder and all other neccessities, and about half of its crew would be recently hired in Taiwan. How long would it take this ship to reach Kinmen, China in about 1550? Any other information you can provide would be much appreciated.
Asked by Darth Drahcir - Mon Mar 5 22:02:09 2007 - - 1 Answers - 0 Comments
A. 22 hours
Answered by nowhereman - Tue Mar 6 05:28:19 2007
