A Tale of Two Chinas

Jhushan Village on Kinmen Island, Taiwan dates to 1345 is arranged according to feng shui

As we progress through our second year in Hong Kong, Jeff and I have started giving more thought to our "bucket list" of destinations in Asia to visit before our time here is over.  Two of those destinations are Japan and Taiwan.  While Jeff had been to both for business, he never had time to do any sightseeing, and I had never visited either country. So in April we took a week off and spent a few days in each country.

 

Jeff stands in the entrance of home-stay inn in Jhushan Village

Kinmen's network of civil defense tunnels
offered protection during Communist shelling

Americans typically don't give much thought to the stability and status of our government, so it's hard to imagine what it must be like to be a citizen of a country that is unrecognized by much of the World. The Republic of China (ROC) was established in what is now the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1912, following the end of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Taiwan was known as Formosa and was ruled by Japan.  Following World War II, Taiwan and surrounding islands were returned to the Allied Forces and the ROC.  The Nationalist Party, led by Chiang Kai-shek, controlled the ROC, but had a longstanding conflict with the Communist Party.   The two parties joined forces during World War II to resist the Japanese, only to resume their civil war in 1946.  Upon defeat by the Communist Party in 1949, the Nationalist Party government retreated to Taipei and established that city as a provisional capital.  Chiang resumed his role as President and maintained his intention to retake the Mainland until his death in 1975.  For its part, the Communist Party established the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949 and still actively claims Taiwan as part of its territory to this day.  Until 1971, the ROC was recognized as the sole legitimate government of China by the UN and most Western countries.  However, UN recognition of the PRC in 1971 triggered the ROC's ultimate expulsion from the UN.  Since that time, the "One China" policy has resulted in the reduction of countries recognizing the ROC from 71 in 1969 to just 22 in 2013, while recognition of the PRC has grown from 48 to 172 countries over the same period. 

The Jugang Tower was built as a memorial to the fallen soldiers of Kinmen 

When ROC forces retreated to Taiwan island, they retained control over two islands in the Taiwan Straits: Quemoy (or Kinmen) and Matsu.  Control of these islands, which are located much closer to the coast of the PRC than to Taiwan, proved to be of both strategic and political importance in the standoff.   Quemoy sits less than two miles from the PRC coast and was first shelled by the Communists in 1954.  The U.S., which viewed ROC control over Quemoy and Matsu as critical in containing the spread of Communism in Asia, responded by threatening the use of nuclear weapons against the Mainland.   A second round of shelling by the Communists in 1958 led to another crisis, during which the U.S. military's supply of weapons simply outlasted the Communists'.  Following this, the two sides continued to shell each other until 1979, with leaflets and propaganda replacing explosives in many of the shells. 

Chen Ching Lan Mansion is an example of western architecture on Kinmen

After years as a military reserve under martial law, administration of Quemoy was transferred from military to civilian government in the 1990s.  And as tensions between the ROC and PRC waned, Quemoy eventually became a tourist destination, with direct travel between the island and the Mainland beginning in 2001.

One of the many elaborate temples on Kinmen

Jeff and I traveled to Quemoy on a one hour flight from Taipei.  And although the island's military history is still evident, it does not interfere with its lush, green beauty or the kindness of the 130,000 people who call it home.  The economy is supported primarily by tourism, followed by the production of Kaoliang or sorghum wine, agriculture and fishing.  The surplus of steel left over from the years of shelling gave rise to "bombshell cutlery."  The Maestro Wu steel knife factory got its start making knives from bombshells dropped by the Allies during World War II when Taiwan was occupied by the Japanese.  Today the company uses remnants from the Communist shelling as its main supply of steel for its knives.  Jeff and I visited the factory, saw a demonstration of how the knives are made and did a little shopping.  Maestro Wu estimates that the bomb shells left over from the Communist shelling will supply steel for making knives for another sixty years! 

Steel bomb shells are raw materials at the Maestro Wu steel knife factory

During our visit to Quemoy, we found the island to be very tourist-friendly.  Bicycles are free of charge for up to three days, and we used them to cycle around most of the island. In addition to the knife factory, we visited temples, beaches and the civil defense tunnels villagers used during the Communist shelling.  Quemoy villages are considered to be some of the best examples of traditional, clan-style dwellings in Taiwan.  There is an extensive network of "home stay" inns, and we stayed in one in Jhushan, a 14th Century village known for its houses with elegant swallow-tail roofs arranged according to feng shui.

Now that we have been in Hong Kong for just a little more than one year, we have learned that there are numerous cultures and histories that make up China.  While Taiwan is the China at the center of 20th Century political and military history and the line past which Communism did not spread, it goes without official recognition by most of the rest of the world.  Our trip to Quemoy gave us the opportunity to see up close where much of this history took place.