Kinmen magistrate envisions new role for outlying island

During the conflicts, Kinmen's military facilities were moved underground for defense purposes, and a web of tunnels served as the nerve system of the subterranean garrison command. Kinmen remained under martial law for decades until 1992.

When the Kinmen National Park was planned in the early 1990s, the legacy of the war years was adopted as a major theme, Lee recalled.

“Over the past years, the Kinmen Garrison Command has transferred the administration of the Guningtou Battle Museum that was on the nationalist army command base during the 56-hour battle, the Mashan warfare broadcasting station, and some underground tunnels to the national park administration and the county government,” he said.

Although many people visit Kinmen on pilgrimages to honor its war history, the magistrate said, a first-time visitor would find Kinmen a unique place where Mingnan architecture and a commune culture have been well preserved because of the islands' isolation as a result of war.

He said that the people of Kinmen have successfully used their cultural heritage to achieve local development.

“Both the county government and the national park administration have helped local residents to repair and renovate old houses, some of which are still residences, and quite a few have been turned into exhibition centers, bed-and-breakfast guest houses, restaurants, and souvenir shops,” said Lee proudly.

However, in the interest of long-term development, a bridge to connect Greater Kinmen and Little Kinmen (Liehyu) is considered extremely important, he added.

At present, many tourists miss the opportunity to explore the beautiful white sand beach and the unique biodiversity on Liehyu because of the inconvenience of getting there, he said.

“With the construction of a 5.43-kilometer bridge, it will take 10 minutes to travel from Greater Kinmen to Liehyu, about half the time it takes by ferry,” according to Lee.

The proposal to build a cross-sea bridge between the two isles was first raised by local residents 17 years ago, but because of the huge cost, there had been no concrete discussions of the idea until recently.

“The central government and the local government have finally reached consensus on the construction of the 'Kinmen Bridge' and the Kinmen County government needs to raise one third of the NT$5.7 billion budget,” Lee disclosed.

For many Kinmen residents, the planned “Kinmen Bridge” is only part of the infrastructure that the outlying islands need to facilitate their development.

“With Kinmen's expanding ferry services, regular flights to five cities in Taiwan, and charter flights to Singapore and Macau, the county's residents are looking forward to the establishment of another direct channel to the Chinese mainland via a bridge network and we expect continued improvement of the cross-strait environment, which would allow Kinmen the opportunities it is seeking,” Lee said.

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