Taiwan Today

New reservoir (top left) assures plenty of water for Kinmen domestic and agricultural use. The more than 56,000 civilian inhabitants of the islands are self-sufficient in all foods ex­cept rice. The excellent and fiery alcoholic beverage kaoliang made from Kinmen sorghum is exported to Taiwan in large quantity. Chinese-style Ku Shan Kang build (bottom left) is a reception center for both civilian and military use. Building (top right) is a high school auditorium. Kinmen has 3 kindergartens, 26 primary schools and 7 high schools for its 13,000, children. Educa­tion is free and compulsory through the junior high school level. Kinmen originally had few trees. After the 1958 shellings, the island was close to being a desert wasteland. A tree-planting program has produced the result to be seen (bottom right). Because Kinmen is buffeted by strong winds, the trees also help keep the soil in place and minimize crop losses. The highway running between the tree rows is for both civilian and military use. Good transportation assures the sup­ply of defenders. Defense works have been compared with those of Gibraltar, Malta.

Here are more views of the pleasant face of Kinmen. The outlook, at up, is across tree-guarded farmlands to a village and the ever-present sea. A girl holds up one of Kinmen's big Chinese cabbages (bottom left). The land is hilly and rocky but nearly half is cultivated. Principal crops are sweet potatoes, peanuts, sorghum, barley, wheat, soybeans, vegetables and rice. Shopping street of a village is seen at bottom right. A large military garrison helps to assure the prosperity of shopkeepers.

Kinmen takes care of its old as well as its young. The modern structure at up is the “Hundred Age Hall”, a home for elderly citizens. A high-mast TV antenna picks up programs from Taiwan. Buddhist temple assures the spiritual welfare of those in their declining years. The old woman doing needlework (right) says she is 103 years old.

Class of girls at a Kinmen high school is seen above. The Chinese system of educa­tion separates girls and boys after primary school. As with farm families everywhere, children help with home chores after their studies are finished. The youngsters are husking corn, which is a food crop for both humans and the island's sizable popu­lation of porkers. Kinmen's first settlers came from the mainland in the 4th century. As dynasty succeeded dynasty, the disaffected often retreated to the island. Kinmen was one of the bases of Cheng Cheng-kung (Koxinga), when he was defending the Mings against Manchu invaders in the 17th century. Many Kinmenites subsequently moved on to South­east Asia. The number is estimated at more than 22,000 in recent times. About 12,000 are in Singapore and others in Malaysia and the Philippines. Remittances to relatives have helped the Kinmen economy. Politically, Kinmen is a county of Fukien province, which temporarily has its seat in Taipei. The language is the Amoy dialect, which also is the principal indigenous tongue of Taiwan people.

The monument (top) on Little Kinmen commemorates the gal­lantry of the Chinese defenders of the islands. Chinese calligraphy on the rock at bottom is that of President Chiang Kai-shek. The words urge the Chinese not to forget the ancient state of Chu, which resisted an occupying force for many years and finally re­gained freedom and independ­ence. President Chiang is con­fident that the epic of Chu will be repeated by the freedom fighters of Taiwan and the embattled offshore isles.