A half century ago the world seemed poised for war over the island of Kinmen, known then as Quemoy. Today Kinmen has become a transit point between Taiwan and China, as tourists tread where bombs once fell. But this peaceful traffic also may threaten Taiwan, albeit in a very different way.
In 1949 the Communist Party pushed Chiang Kai-shek’s Republic of China off the Chinese mainland. Chiang retreated to the island of Taiwan, seized by Japan in 1895 and returned at the end of World War II. The ROC also retained control of several smaller islands off the mainland’s coast, including Kinmen.
The newly created People’s Republic of China attempted to forcibly reclaim the latter in October 1949, but failed after a three-day battle. After that a Chinese Cold War ensued, with the Communist regime periodically shelling Kinmen and threatening another invasion.
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