The Foreign Service Journal, June 2005

108 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 5 R EFLECTIONS Quemoy: A Tale of Two Islands Redux B Y S TANTON J UE I n October 2002, my wife and I went to Quemoy (aka Kinmen), a small island we had last visited 42 years before when I was a young FSO sta- tioned in Taipei. Quemoy is 10 kilo- meters, about six miles, from Amoy (also known as Xiamen) on the China coast and 227 kilometers, 142 miles, from Taiwan. During the offshore islands crises of 1954-1958, Quemoy was one of the hottest spots in the Cold War. The Chinese communists regularly bombarded the island, test- ing the resolve of the Chinese Nationalists and the Americans. During the August 1958 bom- bardment, the people of Quemoy suffered enormously. On our first visit to the island in 1960, the garri- son commander and his staff briefed us about the military situation in his underground quarters. We released balloons with political messages for the people in China. We had no idea whether they had any impact, because mainlanders were prohibit- ed from picking up the messages. We saw patriotic slogans on the bill- boards and even some nostalgic Li Po poems carved on boulders. The contrasts between then and now are truly profound. The return visit brought back memories of the Chinese Nationalists’ strategic plan for the defense of Taiwan as a stepping stone to recover the lost mainland. A national park, established in 1995, now covers a major part of the island. We arrived at Shangyi Airport in the morning and drove to the park’s visi- tors center for a briefing on the histo- ry, terrain and flora, and viewed the exhibits of major battles, temples and scenic spots of both Quemoy and sev- eral nearby islands. Through a con- certed reforestation effort, the island has become verdant, dotted with “wind lion” statues — huge, fierce, animal-like deities protecting the farms. After a feast of local specialties, we toured some of the battlefield monuments. We were told that Quemoy resi- dents, but not Taiwanese, could now visit Amoy on China’s mainland as tourists. Similarly, Amoy residents could bring fruits, vegetables, fish, etc. to Quemoy markets, or come as tourists. Some people say this is the beginning of a people-to-people exchange program, implementing the “mini-links” (both physical and sym- bolic) between the two sides launched in January 2001. President Chen Shui-bian, during a September 2003 visit, told Quemoy Mayor Lee Chu- feng that expanding the mini-links with China must be considered only in the context of Taiwan; and unless there is a positive response from Beijing, relations across the strait must remain as they are. On the question of making Quemoy the center of tourism and cross-strait relations, however, Chen said: “The government simply cannot ignore Taiwan’s security to meet Quemoy’s needs.” One of the high points of our visit was a tour of the Chin Ho Li Steel Knife Factory. During the Cold War, Mr. Wu Chao-hsi collected artillery shells and bomb fragments to develop a cutlery business, the “Kinmen Steel Knife Factory,” earning him the name “Maestro Wu.” Stories about this unique endeavor spread, attract- ing worldwide attention. From all accounts, Wu truly possessed an uncanny ability to forge the shells and bomb fragments into beautiful and functional culinary knives. It was thrilling to watch him and his associ- ates demonstrate their skills, bringing to mind the biblical passage about “hammering the swords into plow- shares and the spears into sickles.” The Quemoy we visited three years ago was relatively free of tension and military atmospherics. The residents live a peaceful life. Children attend school without fear of war and destruction such as their grandparents experienced. However, the fragile “detente” which has prevented the dark clouds of war from gathering in the strait for the past 50 years is disin- tegrating. Still, as Mayor Lee noted, Quemoy Island, situated between the mainland and Taiwan, can play a con- structive role in building a bridge of friendship and understanding to allow cross-strait relations to evolve in a pos- itive direction. n Stanton Jue is a retired FSO who served in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia, and in Washington as USIA policy officer for East Asia and the Pacific. He is currently a mentor for UNA young professionals at DACOR. The stamp is courtesy of the AAFSW Bookfair “Stamp Corner.”