A bell made partially from artillery shells will ring the sound of peace at 11 a.m. Aug. 23 on Kinmen Island, according to the Council for Cultural Affairs.
“We hope everyone will sing out for peace at the same time,” the CCA said at a news conference at the Kinmen Peace Memorial Park Aug. 21.
Former South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk, 1993 Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Song Kosal, youth ambassador for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which won the prize in 1997, will be on hand for the bell ringing to lend their support to Taiwan’s efforts toward peaceful cross-strait relations, the council added.
“The ROC has pursued its belief in peace for the past century,” said ROC Vice President Vincent C. Siew, who doubles as chairman of the ROC Centennial Foundation. “Love and peace are values shared among all ROC citizens.”
A peace wall created from a Kinmen battle memorial, inlaid with 100 china plates bearing paintings by Taiwanese and mainland Chinese artists, was unveiled Aug. 19, when a 10-day art exhibition featuring works related to the concept of peace by nine artists from Australia, France, Singapore and Taiwan also kicked off.
“These artworks express the wishes of the people of Kinmen for peace, and their determination to have it,” Kinmen County Magistrate Li Wo-shi said. “Through the power of this art we hope to stimulate thoughts of peace in all who come here.”
Aug. 23, 1958 was the beginning of the 823 Artillery Battle at Kinmen, an offshore island situated 277 kilometers from Taiwan proper and just off the southeastern coast of mainland China’s Fujian province.
During the 44-day battle, mainland China’s People’s Liberation Army hurled more than 480,000 artillery shells at Kinmen, which served as Taiwan’s first line of defense against any possible mainland Chinese invasion. (THN)
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw