2019 Inter-Island Peace Camp@Kinmen (1) Compilation of Experience Notes

A while ago, I set foot on Kinmen for the first time because I participated in the 2019 Inter-Island Peace Camp . This is my second time participating in the Peace Camp. Although I still don’t understand what this camp is doing, and every time I participate, there is a kind of self-doubt that “I’m not messing around”, but I still want to force myself to put some After sorting out the harvest or feelings, on the one hand, the knowledge structure is reorganized, and on the other hand, it also forces myself to continue thinking about some issues that should be considered.

This article is based on the stories shared by lecturers, friends and local people during my participation in the event, and my personal experience or thinking notes, so it is rather scattered, and there may be some parts that are not described accurately. If you are interested in discussing with friends, welcome to leave a message in the comment area.

• What exactly was controlled during the battlefield government affairs period?

Kinmen Matsu has a so-called "battle field government affairs period", which can be roughly understood as the implementation of some special controls on Kinmen Matsu due to the needs of the national army in combat. Literally, it is understandable, but without living in Jinma, it is hard to imagine what kind of control it is? This time I went to Kinmen, I only learned a little bit from the explanation of the Qionglin Civil Defense Museum.

For example, during the period of government affairs in the battlefield, because there was light control, the enemy might recognize that there were people living here, so the lights of the houses at night should not be leaked. Therefore, Kinmen did not have its first street light until 1991. In addition, a permit was required to travel between Taiwan and Kinmen at that time, but what shocked me even more was that fishermen and oyster farmers also required permits (coastline control), and it was forbidden to fly kites and keep pigeons (is it really scary? Flying pigeons pass the book...), and no swimming! (Justin Yifu Lin said...)

In fact, Justin Yifu Lin swam from Kinmen to the other side. The tour guide explained that the closest place between Kinmen and mainland China is only two kilometers away, from Qingyu in Kinmen to Jiaoyu in Xiamen. Justin Yifu Lin was the company commander stationed at this place back then. I checked the map and it was really close.

• Jinxia Co-living Circle

Because Kinmen is relatively close to Xiamen and far away from Taiwan, from a geographical point of view, Jinxia is actually a living circle. Kinmen County Councilor Dong Senbao said that because Kinmen is a small island, it will rely on other large islands for supplies. Before the national army arrived in Kinmen to garrison, Kinmen people would go to Xiamen to buy things. If they wanted to "go to Nanyang", they would first go to Xiamen to take a big ship to go to sea. Moreover, Xiamen also has the "Kinmen Compatriots Association" XD At first, I couldn't imagine how to form a "life circle", because Jinmen and Xiamen are actually under different administrative bodies, but I immediately realized that I was wrong. In 1949 In the past, Kinmen and Xiamen were the same country, there was no such problem...

Another friend mentioned an interesting point of view. He said that Xiamen has developed very well in the past 20 to 30 years, and many high-rise buildings have been built. Kinmen people have watched Xiamen gradually develop, and gradually have a sense of relative deprivation in their hearts: why Xiamen can make money, but Kinmen has become forgotten by Taiwanese people. outlying islands? For me, this is a good reminder that when thinking about why Kinmen is getting closer to China, I need to let go of the Taiwanese perspective and think about it from the life experience of Kinmen people. (Another interesting comparison is Matsu and Fuzhou)

• What is your vision of peace?

An important task of the peace camp is to write the annual peace declaration. One night, everyone was divided into groups according to language. The discussion leader of the Taiwan group was compulsory. She asked everyone to think about two questions: What is your imagination of peace? What is happening on your island and what are your expectations for it?

The main topic of the Peace Camp is the anti-U.S. base movement in Jeju Island and Okinawa, but there are no U.S. bases in Taiwan. When I participated in the last time, I silently thought, since Taiwan has no U.S. bases, does this issue have something to do with us? Times have changed. Although Taiwan still does not have a US military base, the situation in East Asia has changed too rapidly in the past two years. Taiwan has once again become the front line of the confrontation between the United States and China. The threat from the CCP seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Nearly, military cooperation is the foreseeable future? In addition, after the 1124 election last year, there was a high sense of national subjugation in the stratosphere. Although no one would support war in essence, if the other side really came to fight, wouldn't Taiwan protect itself?

The above questions are all intertwined with the sense of national subjugation, and have become a series of big questions on the minds of participants in this year's peace camp in Taiwan. What impresses me deeply is that while writing the poster, the compulsory student said yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes, to yes yes yes, yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes, while writing the poster, this feeling of national subjugation was not so deep in the camp last year. Although it was only eight or nine months before the election at the end of last year, the overall atmosphere of society, (at least my stratosphere) perception of the future of the country, elections, US-Taiwan cooperation, and even the situation in East Asia, and thinking about these issues Angle, after the election, there has been a lot of churning.

Also because of the tension between the US and China and the key role of Taiwan's geographic location being highlighted, we discussed something a little uncomfortable that night: the security of the Taiwan Strait depends on the US troops stationed in Okinawa and Jeju Island. Because these two bases are close enough to the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. military can intervene and defend immediately. So, is Taiwan's security based on the sacrifices of Okinawa and Jeju Island?

Thinking from this perspective, the U.S. military base is no longer just a matter of Okinawa and Jeju Island, and it is no longer "related to Taiwanese."