Asia | In the dragon’s mouth

The view from the front line between Taiwan and China

As Tsai Ing-wen visits America, we visit Kinmen island, 3km from the mainland

A scooter drives past a fruit stall in the old street of the city on Kinmen, Taiwan, October 17, 2021. Sitting on the front line between Taiwan and China, Kinmen is the last place where the two engaged in major fighting, in 1958 at the height of the Cold War, and where memories of war are burned into minds decades later. REUTERS/Ann Wang    SEARCH "WANG KINMEN" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES - RC2LBQ9YZA0E
Outlier islandImage: Reuters
|KINMEN

Think about it this way: if in a conflict between America and China it is Taiwan that will be the front line, then in a confrontation between Taiwan and China that role will be played by Kinmen, an island that is 187km from Taiwan, which administers it, but only 3km away from China, which does not.

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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “In the dragon’s mouth”

From the April 8th 2023 edition

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