Kinmen - History

History

The Prince of Lu, a member of the Southern Ming Dynasty, resisted the invading Manchu Qing dynasty forces. In 1651, he fled to Kinmen, which the Qing dynasty took in 1663.

The Chinese government never ceded Kinmen to Japan: unlike the island of Taiwan and the Penghu islands, Kinmen formed part of Fujian Province, both to the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). Japan did however occupy Kinmen during the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945.

The PRC extensively shelled the island during the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises, which was a major issue in the 1960 United States Presidential Election between Kennedy and Nixon. In the 1950s, the United States threatened to use nuclear weapons against the PRC if it attacked the island.

Kinmen was originally a military reserve. The island was returned to the civilian government in the mid-1990s, after which travel to and from it was allowed. Direct travel between mainland China and Kinmen re-opened in 2001, 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 outbreak, but has since resumed.

Many Taiwanese businesspeople use the link through Kinmen to enter the Chinese mainland, seeing it as cheaper and easier than entering through Hong Kong. However, this changed following the 2005 Pan-Blue visits to mainland China and the presidential and legislative victories of the KMT, that allowed easier Cross-Strait relations. Kinmen has experienced a considerable economic boom as businesspeople relocate to the island for easier access to the vast markets of the PRC.