On Kinmen's political structure—noting that it is a frontline county:
While the Magistrate, myself, is appointed by the national government, other major local government officials, including the heads and delegates of the towns and villages, are elected. The citizens also elect national assemblymen and legislative representatives to participate in national government.
Kinmen, unlike other counties, has no county council. Instead, we have a consultative committee which functions in a similar way and is composed of elected community leaders, representatives of towns and villages, and other local dignitaries. Members of the committee assemble periodically to discuss County affairs, assert public opinion, and participate in major administrative consultations. In addition, the Magistrate, in company with County department heads, is obliged to attend the representative-conferences of towns and villages and submit himself to possible interpellations.
Our overall administrative goal is improve our services to the people, and in that connection, every Thursday is set aside as a "day to visit with the people." I, in my capacity as Magistrate, and the County department heads meet people of all walks of life in the County offices. We need to keep close to the grassroots and to be available to help solve people's problems. And as my predecessors did, I also hold periodic meetings to exchange views with civil delegates, elders, leaders of different communities and groups, to make sure that every administrative measure best serves the public interest and the specified goals.
On Kinmen County revenue sources:
We don't rely much on the national government for financial support; central government funds are made available only for special construction programs. The major source of County revenues is exports-in order of magnitude, kaoliang liquor, pottery clays, and granite, all products of public enterprises. These County-run companies not only contribute the bulk of Kinmen's public finances—particularly the Kinmen Distillery, which provides 40 of every 100 dollars for the County payroll—but comprise a significant segment of Kinmen's total economic activity.
A service club-rec center for Kinmen military personnel.
Unlike other jurisdictions of this nation, Kinmen County enjoys full powers of taxation—our tax system is independent. And since the income levels and living standards of Kinmen's residents are relatively low as compared with Taiwan Province's population, the Kinmen government has not imposed income and business taxes on this County. Kinmen County only taxes real estate and imported goods, and these taxes are low, accounting for a very small portion of annual County income—less than seven percent last year, for instance.
On the island's critical water supply efforts:
Kinmen has historically been short of fresh water for both geographic and geological reasons, and its farmers once depended heavily on the rains for their crops. The island experienced one drought lasting over six months in 1963, a situation so serious that island dwellers had to depend on Navy transport ships for drinking-water supplies. The County government has since devoted much of its effort to the building of water-storage facilities.
To date, we have completed 14 reservoirs, 100-odd dams, and about 3,000 ponds around the island. Altogether, they have a water-holding capacity of more than eight million cubic meters. And that is sufficient to supply fresh water for the island's population for a year, plus irrigation water for spring planting; with a full drought, though, we would still have irrigation water shortages in fall and winter.
On agricultural prospects:
Our agricultural efforts have been concentrated on such crops as sorghum, sweet potatoes, and peanuts, and on fruits such as peaches, grapes, guavas, and watermelons that have either comparatively high economic value or are drought resistant, or both.
A central island highway
Kinmen was originally a near-desert wasteland as a result of drought and the sea winds. The crop yields on yesteryear's wind-eroded island could feed its population for less than three months.
Beginning in the early 1950s, the County launched afforestation and irrigation-improvement efforts to upgrade its agricultural infrastructure. The tens of millions of trees since planted serve today as windbreaks, temperature regulators, and soil controllers. Our current 15-year afforestation plan involves large-scale planting of commercial forests and fruit trees on the publicly-owned hilly areas.
The County encourages local farmers to grow crops identified as best suited to the island's agrotype and weather, by purchasing the yields at guaranteed prices. Take sorghum, the major ingredient in our special kaoliang wine, as an example. The Kinmen Distillery purchases locally-grown sorghum at about twice the outside market price. The major tasks of our County are to see to it that the farmers receive the help they need to farm their plots during busy farming seasons and to accelerate farm modernization.
Truly, Kinmen is agriculturally inferior to most of the counties of Taiwan in many ways. It is more difficult to develop an agricultural industry here: Farmers have to blend the poor sandy soil with clay before they use it.
On population outflow:
Each year, most of our high-school graduates go to Taiwan to find jobs or for ongoing education at the colleges and military academies. Only a minority seeks employment on the local labor market. Those Kinmen students who study in Taiwan usually stay on there after completing their schooling, for here in Kinmen there are few jobs suited to them.
The tomb of stalwart Ming Dynasty loyalist, King Lu.
Throughout the ages, the number of island emigrants to Taiwan is estimated at about 35,000. Yet the comparable figure for overseas Kinmeners—mainly to the Southeast Asian countries—is even more staggering, more than 200,000 people, four times as many as the total present island population. The outflow is a traditional phenomenon dating back several hundred years.
The constant emigration engenders a manpower/aging problem for Kinmen's economic development, especially in agriculture. The younger-and generally better-educated-generation is reluctant to devote itself to hard farm labor and comparatively low incomes, considering the opportunities in industrial Taiwan. This problem can only be eased by the institution here of hi-tech plants with state-of-the-art production technology.
The outflow of working-age persons has removed a potential grave problem—namely, unemployment. Given its specific conditions and the fact that we don't have many large-scale, labor-intensive processing undertakings, this island cannot create the new work vacancies required yearly to absorb the high-school graduate pool.
On educational development:
Education is one area in which we have scored remarkably. One of every three Kinmen residents is now a student. The nation's nine-year compulsory education system was first implemented here in 1964, and we now have one academic senior high school, a vocational senior high school, five junior high schools, fourteen elementary schools, and a kindergarten, accommodating a total enrollment of more than 17,000 students. And instead of funding special schooling facilities and teachers for children who are blind, deaf, or have other disabilities, the County sends them to Taiwan for special education and fully covers the expenses.
Constructed within the hewed-out heart of a granite mountain—The great Atlas Hall auditorium.
On community and social services:
We have completely free medical care for all citizens. At the county level, we have founded a general hospital, an affiliate to the medical department, and there are medical clinics and nursing stations down to the village level. In addition, a military facility, the Granite Hospital, has a special section to treat civilian patients with critical ailments.
We have set up a home for senior citizens and an orphanage to accommodate homeless elders and children. For the jobless, the government may help them to start their own businesses by offering long-term, low-interest loans, or assist them to seek employment by providing vocational training.
On future County Government projects:
In the future, our effort will be focused on grassroots construction and economic development, targeted at raising people's income levels and living standards. To date, we suffer a trade deficit with Taiwan Province, but we hope to narrow that gap in the near future and to balance the bilateral trade in the long run. Towards this purpose, the County will further the development of forestry, fisheries—including fish-farming-and animal husbandry, sectors we see as having the greatest development potential for this island.