◀ Quan Tangshi Comprehensive index starts in volume 5, page 2667.

Quemoy and Matsu Jīnmén-​Mǎzǔ ​金门马祖 92,000 est. 2008 pop.

Quemoy and Matsu are part of a group of fif- he islands of Quemoy and Matsu are part of a teen islands located off the coast of Fujian group of fifteen islands located in the Min River Province. In the 1950s the two islands, which estuary about 12 kilometers off the coast of Fu- belong to Taiwan, became the focus of politi- jian Province in China. The two islands, which were oc- cupied by the Chinese Nationalist Party (Guomindang) cal crises between China, which controls the forces during the Nationalist evacuation of the mainland other thirteen islands, and Taiwan. in 1949, belong to Taiwan. The larger island is Quemoy

Quemoy Jiangxi Fuzhou Matsu and Matsu Fujian Taipei

Xiamen T’ai-chung Taiwan Strait Quemoy Guangdong T’ai-nan Taiwan Guangzhou Shantou Kao-Hsiung Hong Kong T

1861

© 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC 1862 Berkshire Encyclopedia of China 宝 库 山 中 华 全 书

(also known as “Kinmen,” ­“Chin-men,”­ or “Jinmen”), the mainland. In the United States nuclear strikes against which covers an area of 132 square kilometers, whereas the PRC were considered, but this action was opposed by the smaller island of Matsu (also known as ­“Ma-­tsu” or leading European members of NATO. In April 1955 the “Mazu”) covers only 12 square kilometers. PRC offered to negotiate a ­cease-­fire, and the bombard- The heavily fortified islands became the focus of ment of the islands stopped on 1 May 1955. political crises between the People’s Republic of China In 1958 the crisis flared again, and the islands were (PRC), which controls the remaining thirteen islands in shelled once more. This time the United States extended the group, and Taiwan, 210 kilometers to the east. its mutual security pact with Taiwan to include Quemoy Historically the islands have served as refuges for and Matsu and once again deployed the Seventh Fleet to people fleeing wars on the mainland or as shelter for pi- the area. Observers have proposed that large numbers of rates. The pirate Cheng­Cheng- ­kung (Koxinga) fought the native Taiwanese soldiers were sent to the two islands in Manchus and the Dutch from his stronghold on Quemoy. order to prevent them from staging an armed rebellion in After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 the U.S. Taiwan. The island of Quemoy has now been opened to Seventh Fleet was placed in the Taiwan Straits to pre- tourism. Agriculture is the main occupation on Quemoy. vent the Chinese Nationalist Party and the Communists Bent NIELSEN from attacking each other. Having just been elected U.S. president, Dwight D. Eisenhower withdrew the fleet in February 1953, and in August 1954 the Nationalist gov- Further Reading ernment in Taiwan moved ­fifty-­eight thousand soldiers First Taiwan Strait Crisis: Quemoy and Matsu Islands. to Quemoy and fifteen thousand to Matsu. In September (2005). Retrieved December 30, 2008, from ­http:// the two islands came under heavy bombardment from www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/quemoy_ mainland forces, and the fighting spread to other islands matsu.htm in the East China Sea. In the early months of 1955 the Szonyi, M. (2008). Cold War island: Quemoy on the front fighting further escalated and involved coastal ports on line. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

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