Taiwan Today

After 44 days of non-stop bombardment, the Communists realized that the island and its ROC troops were determined not to capitulate. Moreover, the U.S. Seventh Fleet was positioned in the Taiwan Straits and threatened severe retaliation for any invasion of either the island or Taiwan itself.

The artillery harassment continued for another 20 years (with shells fired on "even" days), but the point had been made: the ROC military and civilian forces were determined to fight to the end, and the cost to Communist forces of overcoming such tenacity was too great.

During this month's anniversary of the battle, ROC veterans of the conflict can look back to a job well done, and a continuing symbol of the ROC's resolve to block Communist aggression in the Taiwan Straits.

Based upon intelligence information concerning massive military movements and buildup on the Chinese mainland across from Taiwan, on July 17, 1958, the ROC Ministry of National Defense ordered cancellation of leaves for all military personnel and put the armed forces on wartime alert. Intense preparations for war readiness were made in particular on the front line defense area: Kinmen.

Communist military forces had clearly been mobilized and transferred to the coastal area of Fukien Province, and heavy traffic was observed both along the Yinghsia railway and coastal highways. It was estimated that more than 189,000 troops, backed by 370 artillery pieces, were positioned across the Straits from Kinmen.

At least 267 aircraft were based at airports directly facing Kinmen, and within 745 nautical miles of Taiwan the Communists deployed a total of 1,842 aircraft, including 1,335 jet planes. Training flights and reconnaissance activities by MIG-15 and MIG-17 fighters soon became more frequent.

On July 29th bombers were stationed at the airport in Shanghai. Just after noon on the same day, four ROC Thunderjets were attacked during a routine patrol mission over the Taiwan Straits by four Communist MIG-17 fighters. One Thunderjet was lost and another damaged. The Communists also organized two naval fleets, and both were moved closer to Fukien. At least 17 warships and 21 torpedo boats were based in Fukien harbors.

Soon thereafter, on August 3rd, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and Mao Tse-tung concluded four days of secret talks in Peking. A joint communique was then issued to denounce the U.S. and U.K. as "enemies of peace and democracy." Most observers believe that the military venture against Kinmen and Matsu was in fact the major topic of this meeting between the two Communist leaders, especially as heavy artillery pieces were rapidly being moved into already-built emplacements opposite Kinmen. Other air, ground, and naval force deployment followed, indicating that a crisis was about to flare up in the Taiwan Straits, close on the heels of the Middle East crisis.

"Foreign reporters have already sensed that something big may be coming up," wrote Lawrence Chang, a senior journalist at the time, who covered the entire battle for NBC news. On August 6th the ROC Ministry of Defence announced that the nation's armed forces had reached an emergency state of combat readiness "in the face of rapidly heightening tension across the Taiwan Straits."

Two days later, Joseph Reap, the acting U.S. State Department spokesman, read a statement at the Department's noon press briefing concerning the situation in the Taiwan Straits area: "The present status of alert on Taiwan and the offshore islands was put into effect by the government of China as a realistic defense precaution in response to the deployment of Soviet-type jet fighter planes on several of the heretofore unoccupied coastal air fields opposite the offshore islands and Taiwan (Formosa). The appearance of these planes has been accompanied by the usual flow of Chinese Communist propaganda broadcasts threatening to liberate Taiwan. At a time when worldwide Communist propaganda is talking stridently about peace, the Chinese Communist buildup of air capability has been clearly designed to increase tensions and raise the specter of war. We are, of course, watching the situation closely."

On August 13th, an eight-minute air battle took place between ROC Sabrejets and Communist MIGs. No damage on either side was reported. Air raid alarms were sounded seven times on Matsu on the same day. The following day, seven ROC Sabrejets met and engaged eight MIG-17 fighters south of Matsu and shot down two. The battle was extended on sea level as ROC navy units encountered seven Communist gunboats, sinking three and damaging one.

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek arrived at Kinmen and Little Kinmen on the 20th of August to inspect defense preparations, only three days before the battle began.

August 23, 1958: a sunny day with a cloudless sky. Farmers were in their fields early. Everything appeared quiet, but observation posts reported that on the other side of the narrow Straits artillery covers had been removed from Communist artillery. All posts were instructed to keep closer watch.

The bright sunshine and silence continued into the afternoon. Then, at 6:30 p.m., the air and earth erupted in sound.

"We were having dinner when all of a sudden came the thunderous noise," recalls Wang Kui-ying, who was then a captain in the young women's corps stationed in Kinmen. "The next thing I can remember is that we had a lot more ingredients in our bowls." She adds, "The explosion seemed to have shattered the world into pieces," but even though the shelling was "deafening," it did not frighten her. "As the saying goes, new recruits are afraid of shellings while old soldiers are afraid of machine guns," she says. As an experienced soldier she knew if a shell was going to pass over her head or drop nearby just by listening to its sound.

But what Wang did not know at the time was the intensity of the bombardment: more than 25,000 artillery rounds landed on the tiny island in the first two hours of the battle. And the shelling continued unabated throughout the night. A total of 57,000 rounds were fired by the Communists in the first day.

Six minutes after the initial shelling by the Communists, the ROC artillery forces countered with artillery fire, and the battle which was later to be called "August 23rd" officially started. Casualties on Kinmen reached nearly 200 on the first day of fighting, Wang remembers, "but that was the highest during the whole period; there were only a few later on."

The greatest loss was probably the death of three deputy commanders of the Kinmen garrison, Generals Chao Chia-hsiang, Chi Hsing-wen, and Chang Jieh. Defense Minister Yu Tai-wei was also on Kinmen, but was only slightly injured. "We learned about that only afterward," says NBC's Chang.

To dramatize the incident, Yu returned to Taipei immediately and asked for senior officials of the foreign embassies in the ROC to meet him at the airport. "This was very unusual, as Mr. Yu had never done anything like that before," recalled Chu Hsi-ning, a soldier-turned writer who wrote a two-volume novel on the August 23rd battle. "And there he was appearing in front of everybody with blood smeared all over his face," Chu continued, "that's how it all started. That's when the U.S. Ambassador to the ROC was fully convinced that the fighting was for real." With the bombardment, the Communists had begun their attempt to isolate the island, invade it, then move on to Taiwan and the Pescadores.

More than 70 journalists from all the major world news media began covering the battle, and the world was quick to realize what the Communists had in mind. U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles issued a statement in the form of a letter to Chairman Thomas Morgan of the House Foreign Affairs Committee: "We are indeed disturbed by the evidence of Chinese Communist buildup, to which you refer. It suggests that they might be tempted to try to seize forcibly the Quemoy [Kinmen] or Matsu islands. As you know, these islands have been continuously in the hands of the Republic of China, and over the last four years the ties between these islands and Formosa have become closer and their interdependence has increased. I think it would be highly hazardous for anyone to assume that if the Chinese Communists were to attempt to change this situation by force and now to attack and seek to conquer these islands, that it could be a limited operation. It would, I fear, constitute a threat to the peace of the area. Therefore, I hope and believe that it will not happen."

On August 27th, the United States announced that an aircraft carrier and four destroyers had been ordered from the Mediterranean to reinforce the U.S. Seventh Fleet. And President Eisenhower said "the United States is not going to desert its responsibility to the Republic of China."

On the next day, the U.S. State Department declared: "This direct threat and the massive bombardment of Quemoy came as stark reminders of Peking's militarism and aggressive expansionism and are in direct contrast to Peking's repeated professions of peaceful intentions."

The U.S. Navy announced on August 29th that the aircraft carrier Midway had been dispatched from Honolulu to strengthen the U.S. Seventh Fleet, and U.S. Secretary of the Army Wilber Brucker arrived in Taiwan on the next day, just as the Chinese Communists proclaimed that they were extending their territorial water limits to 12 miles. This was considered a clear provocation to the U.S. fleet cruising in the Taiwan Straits.

Both the U.S. and the U.K. rejected this extension of territorial waters. On September 5th, U.S. Undersecretary of State Christian Herter said in an address prepared for delivery to the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association: "Though the Communist emphasis in recent months has been more upon subversion and penetration through economic, political, and psychological channels, force has been their principal instrument of expansion in Asia. Therefore their present resort to force must be looked at not alone in the light of Taiwan and the offshore islands, but also in the real possibility of its extension to these new nations of Southeast Asia as well as Korea."

Herter added that the military attack by the Communists was "a direct concern to the free nations of the Asian mainland," and "also a great concern to the people of the Philippines." He concluded that "the Chinese Communists had one goal—to dominate and control their Far Eastern neighbors."

Two days later the Seventh Fleet successfully convoyed ROC Navy supply ships to Kinmen. Meanwhile, General Curtis Le May, Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, arrived in Taipei for high-level conferences with American and Chinese leaders on the defense of Taiwan. The next day the first Sino-American amphibious landing exercise, Operation "Land Ho," started in southern Taiwan.

On September 10th the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communists jointly repeated their warnings to the U.S. that the "aggressor" should stay out of the area. But on the same day the U.S. heavy cruiser Los Angeles joined the Seventh Fleet to defend Taiwan, while in Guam Admiral Harry Felt, U.S. Commander in Chief of the Pacific, said: "The U.S. Seventh Fleet will strike back at the Chinese Communists if the Reds fire first."

Despite condemnation from other countries in the region, especially Korea and the Philippines, and other nations around the world, the shelling continued with an average of 12,000 rounds landing on the island each day. But there was closer combat with the Communists than the exchanges of artillery fire across the Straits. As the Communists were trying to cut the island off from any reinforcements, there was constant harassment from both the sea and air.

From August 14th to October 5th, the Chinese Navy destroyed seven Communist gunboats and damaged two others in the sea around Matsu island. Four other sea battles were also fought near Kinmen during the same period, and a total of 19 Communist torpedo boats were sunk. The Chinese Navy in the meantime suffered the loss of a dozen sailors and a freighter in the area.

To protect Kinmen and the surrounding islets, the ROC Air Force sent out a total of 8,361 flights and engaged Communist planes 14 times, scoring victories in 11 of the encounters. The ROC pilots shot down 31 enemy aircraft and damaged six others while losing two of their own fighters to enemy fire and another in a crash landing.

Logistical supply of the island during the 44-day battle was no easy mission. The ROC Navy and Air Force supplied Kinmen with 350 tons of supplies each day. The Air Force completed 15 airdrops under fire in just over a month, supplying the defenders with some 1,790 tons of materiel. In the same number of shipments, the Navy brought 3,862 tons of supplies to the island.

Reporters suffered loss of life, just as did the brave men defending Kinmen. Six were lost in one tragic incident, when supplies were being shuttled to the island, reported by Chang Kuang-chi: "When the 17th run was leaving, LST Colonel Lee yelled that it was going to be the last one...four reporters hopped onto the LVT and were followed by four others....with two tons of supplies, four soldiers and a colonel on board, then all of a sudden eight more reporters."

The small craft soon ran into trouble: "The LVT's engine died and it sank. Rescue work by Colonel Lee and his soldiers was as futile; six reporters were missing. Okuto Tadao of the Japanese Kyodo news agency swam to shore, while Yen Chung of the Youth Warrior Daily drifted in the sea and was picked up more than 30 hours later. From then on Yen has not eaten fish. 'They don't eat me, I don't eat them,' he says."

Peking made a surprise announcement on October 6th. The Communist defense chief said that there would be a seven-day cease fire, and he proposed holding negotiations for a peaceful solution of the conflict. The Communists also offered to allow the ROC to supply the island during the seven days, on the condition that there were "no U.S. escorts." Observers generally believed that the Communists were only trying to launch another massive attack and needed time for a breather. This became obvious, for within the week the number of artillery pieces across the Straits had increased to 561, and more than 1,500 troops were working on bunkers while being supplied by hundreds of trucks.

Things were not quiet on Kinmen either, for the ROC combat forces were reinforced. Moreover, to avoid civilian casualties, some 6,150 old and very young inhabitants were evacuated to Taiwan. This move was regarded as a demonstration of the government's determination to hold onto Kinmen and not give up any land to the Communists. Despite the relocation, civilian losses were substantial. Statistics compiled after the battle was over showed that a total of 2,649 houses were destroyed and 2,397 damaged, with the loss of 80 civilian lives.

After the expiration of the cease-fire, the Communists extended it to two more weeks. But the conflict was far from over; the Communists announced on October 25th that a "cease-fire on odd days" would be observed, meaning that the shellings would continue on "even days." This began—and lasted for the next 20 years, until the United States recognized Peking on December 15, 1978. During this time nearly one million shells landed on Kinmen, killing 162 more people and wounding 800 others. Another 9,000 houses were either destroyed or damaged.

"But victory was on our side," says silver-haired writer Chu Hsi-ning as he thumbs through his novel Notes on August 23rd. The ROC claimed the destruction of 131 Communist artillery pieces, 67 artillery positions, 118 observation posts, camps, and ammunition depots, and some 80 trucks and vessels. In seven sea encounters, 26 Communist boats were sunk while nine others and two ships were seriously damaged. The 12 air battles saw the downing of 31 Communist planes, and possibly seven others. The Communist attempt at a blockade was proven futile. "It shows that we were strong enough to stick to our own ground despite international pressure to pull out of Kinmen and Matsu," Chu says.

The international community once tried to persuade Generalissimo Chiang to abandon the two islands, but he replied: "We are fighting to the last person.... We are not giving one inch of land to the Communists, because Kinmen and Matsu are a part of the defense for Taiwan and Penghu."

"What's more significant," Chu continues, "is that our forces demonstrated an ability to take challenges, stand firm, and control the situation." The successful defense proved what the ROC forces could do, and "that's what really kept the Communists from trying again."

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Island Bastion

Kinmen, also known as Quemoy, is one of the two offshore islands belonging to Fukien Province under the sovereignty of the Republic of China on Taiwan. Located just off the coast of Fukien and dominating the Taiwan Straits, both Kinmen and Matsu islands are strategically important to the defense of Taiwan and the Pescadores (Penghu).

The two islands have been put under the jurisdiction of a local military administrative commission for security reasons, and they serve as outposts for monitoring military activities on the Chinese mainland.

The Kinmen complex, located at 118.24^o East longitude and 24.27^o North latitude, comprises 12 islets, covering an area of 161.40 sq km off the southeastern coast of Fukien Province. The shortest distance between Kinmen and Communist-held territory is just over 2 kilometers. The islands command a key position by blocking the mouth of Amoy Bay on the Chinese mainland only 18 nautical miles away. The geographic position fits well with its name of Kinmen, which literally means "golden gate."

The island first became inhabited when six families crossed the sea from central China to escape a 3rd Century war. Its early history came to mind again when war spread to its shores 17 centuries later as the tiny island was faced with the responsibility of blocking Communist troops from invading Taiwan.

Kinmen has been known as the "fairyland on the sea" since the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), when more and more settlers from the Chinese mainland came to farm and raise animals, turning the wilderness into a prosperous land.

Although a hilly island, Kinmen now has 6,340 hectares (1 hectare=2.47 acres) of farming land that produce mostly sorghum, sweet potatoes, peanuts, barley, and vegetables. The combination of sorghum planting and an abundant supply of porcelain clay accounts for two major sources of local revenue: the famous Kinmen Kaoliang (sorghum) wine, and porcelain and pottery ware.

The Kinmen Distillery has an annual production of about 3 million kilograms, 70 percent of which is sold to Taiwan, with the rest either marketed locally or exported. The Kinmen Porcelain and Pottery Factory is the largest manufacturer of porcelain and pottery in the ROC, with an annual production exceeding 2.5 million pieces.

Rich marine resources around Kinmen make fishing another major source of income for its inhabitants. There are about 2,700 fishermen and more than 200 fishing boats and sampans in Kinmen. The annual catch exceeds 4,000 metric tons.

The total population is more than 45,000, excluding military personnel. The island's GNP was NT$3.8 billion in 1987, and per capita income reached NT$83,280 (US$2,871).

Kinmen first caught the attention of the world news media when the Communists sent 28 000 troops to invade the island on October 24, 1949. The ROC forces repulsed the Communist attack, inflicting severe casualties on the enemy and capturing some 7,000 of them at Kuningtou on the northwestern coast of the island.

The Kuningtou battle marked a significant turning point in the ROC's anti-Communist cause. After suffering several other heavy blows in their unsuccessful attacks on the island, the Communists altered their tactics by shelling the island from the relative safety of the Chinese mainland.

In 1954 the Communists rained Kinmen with 17,243 artillery rounds. When that failed to shake the island fortress, the Communists tried to subdue the defenders with a mammoth bombardment blockade that began four years later, on August 23, 1958. During the following 44 days, the island was inundated with more than half a million rounds of heavy artillery shells. A total of 571,959 rounds of explosive shells and 3,424 rounds of propaganda shells were fired by the Communists during this period.

When U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited Taiwan in 1960, the Communists marked the occasion by firing 85,965 shells at Kinmen on June 17th, the day he arrived in Taipei. They fired another 88,978 shells when President Eisenhower departed two days later.

The shelling continued uninterrupted, though at reduced levels, for the next 20 years, with close to one million rounds fired at the stubborn outpost. Finally, on December 15, 1978, when the U.S. established diplomatic ties with the Communists, the regular shelling ended. Since then only occasional rounds have landed on the island, reminding both civilians and military of the continuing threat so close across the water.