China tries soft approach in winning Taiwan island

KINMEN, Taiwan—Soldiers on the tiny island of Kinmen, which is held by Taiwan, regularly conduct military drills where they simulate repelling amphibious attacks by Chinese communist troops from the mainland.

But the troops more likely may have to contend with shoppers and businessmen from China who have been invading the Taiwanese island.

The war games are a reminder that this place is the front line between China and Taiwan where beaches are mined. China has not renounced force to ensure it gains control of a territory it considers its own.

“If China attacks Taiwan, we will be the first to die,” said Kinmen bar owner Sam Chen, 29, as he watched recent live-fire drills with fellow residents. “Of course I am worried about war, but I also hope Kinmen can build closer ties with China. It’s easier for us young people to make money.”

Closer trade

There’s the rub. Many in Taiwan, especially a newly politicized youth movement, are angry about perceived economic dominance by China, likening it to an invasion.

But many also see the benefits of closer trade. Kinmen, with a population of less than 129,000, is a half-hour ferry ride to China. But it takes an hour to fly to major Taiwan cities. Just off its shores, glasswalled high-rises wink seductively from the booming mainland port of Xiamen in one of China’s most prosperous provinces.

Kinmen is eyeing closer commercial ties with China. It wants to build pipelines to secure water from Xiamen. It also has plans to build a bridge and set up a glittering free trade zone with the city.

Beijing has claimed Taiwan since the Kuomintang (KMT) fled to the island after losing the civil war against Mao Zedong’s communists in 1949.

China hopes to unify with Taiwan, applying the “one country, two systems” formula of Hong Kong—a former British colony that was returned to China in 1997.

And Kinmen, which translates to “Golden Gate,” is a test for China’s ambitions to recover Taiwan through soft power. If Beijing can’t win over tiny Kinmen, what chance does it have to convince the other 23 million people on the main island of Taiwan?

Pillboxes and bullet holes

Kinmen’s growth is supported by Chinese visitors drawn to reminders of war, such as weather-beaten pillboxes, the beach defenses, bullet holes in buildings and graffiti proclaiming: “Eliminate the communists.”

It is also the site of a brand-new, six-story, duty-free shopping mall, billed as the largest in Asia.

“In Kinmen, we can do what Taiwan can’t, what Taiwan doesn’t dare do,” said Kinmen county chief Chen Fu-hai, who wants water, electricity and natural gas to be pumped from Xiamen.

Chen has a three-year roadmap to build a “special economic zone” in which Kinmen can share Xiamen’s economy. The proposal is being promoted by a pro-Beijing, nonprofit organization in Taiwan with close ties to the Communist Party. It wants Kinmen to decide on the free trade zone issue by referendum.

But it will still have to get the nod from the central government before a referendum can take place.

The free trade zone is controversial because it will allow unfettered Chinese investment in Kinmen—something that is strictly controlled in Taiwan as a whole.

“Kinmen residents are really worried about China,” said Andy Yang, a KMT politician who supports the free trade zone idea. “But put that aside: Do we want better economic development or not?”