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152-579: The current Lienchiang County of the ROC was once part of an intact Lienchiang County of Fujian before its effective partition in 1949 following the Chinese Civil War , which resulted in the mainland portion of the county being controlled by the People's Republic of China (PRC), while the offshore islands of Matsu remained under ROC control. The circumstance has made the county the only former geographical unit with

304-459: A postal romanization of the local language pronunciation Lienkong . The term Lienchiang can also refer to the homophonous Lianjiang in Zhanjiang , Guangdong , China . The Matsu Islands are named after the main island, Nangan (Nankan). Nangan is also named Matsu Island because of a temple on the island which is supposed to be the burial site of the similarly named goddess Mazu ( 媽祖 ). Matsu

456-668: A tributary independent kingdom. Thus Wuzhu was allowed to construct his fortified city in Fuzhou as well as a few locations in the Wuyi Mountains , which have been excavated in recent years. His kingdom extended beyond the borders of contemporary Fujian into eastern Guangdong, eastern Jiangxi , and southern Zhejiang . After Wuzhu's death, Minyue maintained its militant tradition and launched several expeditions against its neighboring kingdoms in Guangdong , Jiangxi , and Zhejiang , primarily in

608-611: A boom in Fujian's culture and economy. Fuzhou's economic and cultural institutions grew and developed. The later years of the Tang dynasty saw several political upheavals in the Chinese heartland, prompting even larger waves of northerners to immigrate to the northern part of Fujian. As the Tang dynasty ended, China was torn apart in the period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms . During this time,

760-485: A circling retreat to the west and north, which reportedly traversed over 9,000 kilometers over 370 days." The route passed through some of the most difficult terrain of western China by traveling west, and then northwards towards Shaanxi. "In November 1935, shortly after settling in northern Shaanxi, Mao officially took over Zhou Enlai's leading position in the Red Army. Following a major reshuffling of official roles, Mao became

912-455: A county-level election in this area, most of the competitions are among local strategies. In 2018, a Green Party member, Su Bo Hao attempted to run for magistrate but failed. The historical Lienchiang County roughly included the northern three townships of today's Matsu Islands (Lienchiang County) and the area of today's Lianjiang County of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The PRC claims

1064-802: A fierce battle, the CCP captured Jinan and Shandong province on 24 September 1948. The Huaihai Campaign of late 1948 and early 1949 secured east-central China for the CCP. A large number of KMT troops deserted and changed sides in these conflicts. The outcome of these encounters were decisive for the military outcome of the civil war. The Pingjin Campaign resulted in the Communist conquest of northern China. It lasted 64 days, from 21 November 1948 to 31 January 1949. The PLA suffered heavy casualties while securing Zhangjiakou , Tianjin along with its port and garrison at Dagu and Beiping . The CCP brought 890,000 troops from

1216-678: A founding member of the CCP, was never able to challenge Mao's authority. Essentially, the great retreat made Mao the undisputed leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The Kuomintang used Khampa troops—who were former bandits—to battle the Communist Red Army as it advanced and to undermine local warlords who often refused to fight Communist forces to conserve their own strength. The KMT enlisted 300 "Khampa bandits" into its Consolatory Commission military in Sichuan, where they were part of

1368-472: A highly important feature of the economy. However, most of its commercial trading focuses on retail businesses and restaurants for stationed military consumption. Farm products of Matsu include rice , sugar cane , tea plant , oranges . Sea animals, such as fish , clams , and jellyfish , are also popular exports due to its nature as the major traditional industry in Matsu. However, the flourishing fishing ground

1520-543: A large influx of refugees and another 20 years of sea trade ban under the Kangxi Emperor , a measure intended to counter the refuge Ming government of Koxinga in the island of Taiwan . The sea ban implemented by the Qing forced many people to evacuate the coast to deprive Koxinga's Ming loyalists of resources. This has led to the myth that it was because Manchus were "afraid of water". Incoming refugees did not translate into

1672-597: A major labor force, owing to their re-migration into prosperous regions of Guangdong . In 1683, the Qing dynasty conquered Taiwan in the Battle of Penghu and annexed it into Fujian province, as Taiwan Prefecture . Many more Han Chinese then settled in Taiwan. Today, most Taiwanese are descendants of Hokkien people from Southern Fujian. Fujian and Taiwan were originally treated as one province ( Fujian-Taiwan-Province ), but starting in 1885, they split into two separate provinces. In

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1824-439: A second major wave of immigration arrived in the safe haven of Fujian, led by Wang Brothers ( Wang Chao , Wang Shengui  [ zh ] and Wang Shenzhi ), who set up an independent Kingdom of Min with its capital in Fuzhou. After the death of the founding king, however, the kingdom suffered from internal strife, and was soon absorbed by Southern Tang , another southern kingdom. Parts of northern Fujian were conquered by

1976-571: A single strike, this time the KMT troops patiently built blockhouses, each separated by about eight kilometres (five miles), to surround the Communist areas and cut off their supplies and food sources. In October 1934, the CCP took advantage of gaps in the ring of blockhouses (manned by the forces of a warlord ally of Chiang Kai-shek's, rather than regular KMT troops) and broke out of the encirclement. The warlord armies were reluctant to challenge Communist forces for fear of losing their own men and did not pursue

2128-567: A substantial amount of their own supplies to the Communists, who received Northeastern China from the Soviets as well. In March 1946, despite repeated requests from Chiang, the Soviet Red Army under the command of Marshal Rodion Malinovsky continued to delay pulling out of Manchuria, while Malinovsky secretly told the CCP forces to move in behind them, which led to full-scale war for the control of

2280-423: A total power vacuum of local Chinese forces. Consequently, the 700,000 Japanese troops stationed in the region surrendered. Later in the year Chiang Kai-shek realized that he lacked the resources to prevent a CCP takeover of Manchuria following the scheduled Soviet departure. He therefore made a deal with the Soviets to delay their withdrawal until he had moved enough of his best-trained men and modern materiel into

2432-474: A war, but it didn't mean that. We had to go in when they came in. Now I think as far as Quemoy and Matsu are concerned, that the question is not these two little pieces of real estate- they are unimportant. It isn't the few people who live on them- they are not too important. It's the principle involved. These two islands are in the area of freedom. The Nationalists have these two islands. We should not force our Nationalist allies to get off of them and give them to

2584-531: A war, should be drawn on those islands, but instead on the island of Formosa. And as long as they are not essential to the defense of Formosa, it has been my judgement ever since 1954, at the time of the Eisenhower Doctrine for the Far East, that our line should be drawn in the sea around the island itself. Vice President Nixon retorted: I disagree completely with Senator Kennedy on this point. I remember in

2736-765: Is Mount Huanggang in the Wuyi Mountains, with an altitude of 2,157 metres (1.340 mi). Chinese Civil War This is an accepted version of this page [REDACTED] China portal The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang -led government of the Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with armed conflict continuing intermittently from 1 August 1927 until Communist victory resulted in their total control over mainland China on 7 December 1949. The war

2888-638: Is Nangan Township (Nankan). All the townships administer more than one island. Before 1993, county magistrates were appointed. The Matsu Islands are protected by the ROC Army Matsu Defense Command . Lienchang County voted one Kuomintang legislator out of one seat to be in the Legislative Yuan during the 2016 Republic of China legislative election . While the Democratic Progressive Party have had difficulty winning

3040-454: Is Quanzhou , with other notable cities including the port city of Xiamen and Zhangzhou . Fujian is located on the west coast of the Taiwan Strait as the closest province geographically and culturally to Taiwan . Certain islands such as Kinmen are only approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Xiamen in Fujian. While the population predominantly identifies as Han , it is one of

3192-465: Is 18.6 °C (65 °F), with the average low being at 13 °C (55 °F) and average high at 29 °C (85 °F). The daily temperature varies greatly during day and night. The region experiences subtropical maritime climate ( Cfa according to the Köppen climate classification ), which is influenced by monsoon and ocean currents and its geographic location. Matsu has four seasons: during winter it

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3344-525: Is a mistake. Secondly, I would not suggest a withdrawal at the point of the Communist guns. It is a decision finally that the Nationalists should make and I believe that we should consult with them and attempt to work out a plan by which the line is drawn at the Island of Formosa. It leaves 100 miles between the sea. But with General Ridgway, Mr. Herter, General Collins, Admiral Spruance and many others, I think it

3496-424: Is above the national average, at CN¥126,829 ( US$ 18,856 in nominal), the second highest GDP per capita of all Chinese provinces after Jiangsu . It has benefited from its geographical proximity with Taiwan. As a result of the Chinese Civil War , a small portion of Historical Fujian is now within the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan). The Fujian province of the ROC consists of three offshore archipelagos, namely

3648-454: Is almost exhausted by arbitrary fish bombing by mainland China fishing boats, while the fish population is decreasing as well. Fujian Fujian is a province located in South China . Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefecture city by population

3800-409: Is attacked. We say we will defend it if it's part of a general attack on Formosa, but it is extremely difficult to make that judgment. Now, Mr. Herter , in 1958, when he was Under Secretary of State , said they were strategically indefensible. Admiral Spruance and Collins in 1955 said that we should not attempt to defend these islands in their conference on the Far East. General Ridgway has said

3952-540: Is cold, cloudy, and wet, during summer and spring it is foggy, and during autumn the weather is generally stable. The Matsu Islands are administered as Lienchiang County under the Fujian Provincial Government . Nangan Township is the county seat which houses the Lienchiang County Government and Lienchiang County Council . The county is headed by a magistrate, elected every four years in

4104-714: Is generally divided into two phases with an interlude: from August 1927 to 1937, the First United Front alliance of the KMT and CCP collapsed during the Northern Expedition , and the Nationalists controlled most of China. From 1937 to 1945, hostilities were mostly put on hold as the Second United Front fought the Japanese invasion of China with eventual help from the Allies of World War II , although armed clashes between

4256-617: Is the Matsu dialect , a subdialect of the Fuzhou dialect , which is one of the statutory languages for public transport announcements in the Matsu Islands. Mandarin Chinese is one of the official languages of Lienchiang County. Previously the Eastern Min varieties in the Matsu Islands were seen as a part of general Fujian varieties. The establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 severed

4408-617: Is the Wade-Giles -derived romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation ( Ma³-tsu³ ) for the Chinese character name ( 馬祖 ) of the islands. The Matsu Islands are also known by other Chinese-language names including Chinese : 馬祖群島 ; pinyin : Mǎzǔ Qúndǎo and 馬祖島 ; Foochow Romanized : Mā-cū dō̤). In April 2003, the Lienchiang County government considered changing the name of the county to Matsu County in order to avoid confusion with

4560-609: Is unwise to take the chance of being dragged into a war which may lead to a world war over two islands which are not strategically defensible, which are not according to their testimony, essential to the defense of Formosa. I think that we should protect our commitments. I believe strongly we should do so in Berlin . I believe strongly we should do so in Formosa and I believe we should meet our commitments to every country whose security we've guaranteed. But I do not believe that that line, in case of

4712-632: The 12 April Incident , the White Terror, or the Shanghai massacre . This incident widened the rift between Chiang and Wang Jingwei , the leader of the left wing faction of the KMT. The left wing of the KMT also expelled CCP members from the Wuhan Government , which in turn was toppled by Chiang Kai-shek. The KMT resumed its campaign against warlords and captured Beijing in June 1928. Soon, most of eastern China

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4864-752: The Autumn Harvest Uprising , led by Mao Zedong. Borodin then returned to the Soviet Union in October via Mongolia. In November, Chiang Kai-shek went to Shanghai and invited Wang to join him. On 11 December, the CCP started the Guangzhou Uprising , establishing a soviet there the next day, but lost the city by 13 December to a counter-attack under the orders of General Zhang Fakui . On 16 December, Wang Jingwei fled to France. There were now three capitals in China:

5016-580: The Central Plain . At the same time, Communist forces also began to counterattack in Northeastern China, North China and East China. By late 1948, the CCP captured the northern cities of Shenyang and Changchun and seized control of the Northeast after suffering numerous setbacks while trying to take the cities, with the decisive Liaoshen Campaign . The New 1st Army , regarded as the best KMT army,

5168-458: The Chinese Civil War , the People's Republic of China unified the country and took over most of Fujian, excluding the Quemoy and Matsu Islands . In its early days, Fujian's development was relatively slow in comparison to other coastal provinces due to potential conflicts with Kuomintang-controlled Taiwan. Today, the province has the highest forest coverage rate while enjoying a high growth rate in

5320-683: The Empire of Japan . In 1930, the Central Plains War broke out as an internal conflict of the KMT; launched by Feng Yuxiang , Yan Xishan , and Wang Jingwei. The attention was turned to root out remaining pockets of CCP activity in a series of five encirclement campaigns . The first and second campaigns failed, and the third was aborted due to the Mukden Incident . The fourth campaign (1932–1933) achieved some early successes, but Chiang's armies were badly mauled when they tried to penetrate into

5472-569: The Ispah Rebellion , advancing northward and even capturing Putian and Fuzhou before the rebellion was crushed by the Yuan. Afterward, Quanzhou city lost foreign interest in trading and its formerly welcoming international image as the foreigners were all massacred or deported. Yuan dynasty General Chen Youding , who had put down the Ispah Rebellion, continued to rule over the Fujian area even after

5624-793: The Kinmen Islands , the Matsu Islands , and the Wuqiu Islands . Fujian is considered one of China's leading provinces in education and research. As of 2023, two major cities in the province ranked in the top 45 cities in the world (Xiamen 38th and Fuzhou 45th) by scientific research output, as tracked by the Nature Index . The name Fujian ( 福建 ) originated from the combination of the city names of Fuzhou ( 福州 ) and nearby Jianzhou ( 建州 , or present-day Nanping ( 南平 )). Recent archaeological discoveries in 2011 demonstrate that Fujian had entered

5776-556: The Lienchiang Cross-Strait Matters Forum started as an official forum between Lienchiang County of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Lianjiang County of the People's Republic of China to discuss matters regarding the two sides. The majority of native Matsu Islands residents originated from Northern Fujian. Several of the islands of Matsu are not inhabited permanently. Some of these are garrisoned by soldiers from

5928-651: The Ma clique . Along the way, the Communist army confiscated property and weapons from local warlords and landlords, while recruiting peasants and the poor, solidifying its appeal to the masses. Of the 90,000–100,000 people who began the Long March from the Soviet Chinese Republic, only around 7,000–8,000 made it to Shaanxi. The remnants of Zhang's forces eventually joined Mao in Shaanxi, but with his army destroyed, Zhang, even as

6080-516: The Nanchang Uprising broke out between the ruling Nationalist Party of China (KMT) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which marked the beginning of Chinese Civil War . Sheng-Chang Lin, a graduate student writing for the University of Nottingham Taiwan Studies Programme, noted that in the pre-1949 period, the Matsu Islands did not have a significant relationship with Taiwan, which at the time

6232-641: The Neolithic Age by the middle of the 6th millennium BC. From the Keqiutou site (7450–5590 BP), an early Neolithic site in Pingtan Island located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) southeast of Fuzhou, numerous tools made of stones, shells , bones , jades , and ceramics (including wheel-made ceramics) have been unearthed, together with spinning wheels , which is definitive evidence of weaving . The Tanshishan ( 曇石山 ) site (5500–4000 BP) in suburban Fuzhou spans

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6384-500: The Republic of China Armed Forces stationed in the county since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and during the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1954 and 1958 respectively. Due to that high military demand large numbers of military personnel stationed on the islands produced unprecedented population growth in the county. The population reached its peak in 1971 with a total of 17,088 people. After those periods of high growth

6536-561: The State of Yue , a Spring and Autumn period kingdom in Zhejiang to the north. This is because the royal family of Yuè fled to Fujian after its kingdom was annexed by the State of Chu in 306 BC. Mǐn is also the name of the main river in this area, but the ethnonym is probably older. The Qin deposed the King of Minyue, establishing instead a paramilitary province there called Minzhong Commandery. Minyue

6688-497: The Sui and Tang eras a large influx of migrants settled in Fujian. During the Sui dynasty, Fujian was again part of Yang Province . During the Tang, Fujian was part of the larger Jiangnan East Circuit , whose capital was at Suzhou . Modern-day Fujian was composed of around 5 prefectures and 25 counties. The Tang dynasty (618–907) oversaw the next golden age of China, which contributed to

6840-563: The Taiwan Strait has ensued, with the ROC in Taiwan and the PRC on the mainland both claiming to be the legitimate government of all China. After the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis , both tacitly ceased to engage in open conflict in 1979; however, no armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed. Following the collapse of the Qing dynasty and the 1911 Revolution , Sun Yat-sen assumed

6992-495: The Wuyue Kingdom to the north as well, including the Min capital Fuzhou. Quanzhou city was blooming into a seaport under the reign of the Min Kingdom . Qingyuan Jiedushi was a military/governance office created in 949 by Southern Tang 's second emperor Li Jing for the warlord Liu Congxiao , who nominally submitted to him but controlled Quan ( 泉州 , in modern Quanzhou , Fujian) and Zhang ( 漳州 , in modern Zhangzhou , Fujian) Prefectures in de facto independence from

7144-413: The presidency of the newly formed Republic of China, and was shortly thereafter succeeded by Yuan Shikai . Yuan was frustrated in a short-lived attempt to restore monarchy in China , and China fell into power struggle after his death in 1916. The Kuomintang (KMT), led by Sun Yat-sen, created a new government in Guangzhou to rival the warlords who ruled over large swathes of China and prevented

7296-432: The sea trade ban , and the area was superseded by nearby ports of Guangzhou , Hangzhou , Ningbo and Shanghai despite the lifting of the ban in 1550. Large-scale piracy by Wokou was eventually wiped out by the Chinese military. An account of the Ming dynasty Fujian was written by No In (Lu Ren 鲁认 ). The Pisheya appear in Quanzhou Ming era records. The late Ming and early Qing dynasty symbolized an era of

7448-445: The 1890s, the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan via the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the First Sino-Japanese War . In 1905–1907 Japan made overtures to enlarge its sphere of influence to include Fujian. Japan was trying to obtain French loans and also avoid the Open Door Policy . Paris provided loans on condition that Japan respects the Open Door principles and does not violate China's territorial integrity. The Xinhai revolution overthrew

7600-446: The 2nd century BC. This was stopped by the Han dynasty as it expanded southward . The Han emperor eventually decided to get rid of the potential threat by launching a military campaign against Minyue. Large forces approached Minyue simultaneously from four directions via land and sea in 111 BC. The rulers in Fuzhou surrendered to avoid a futile fight and destruction and the first kingdom in Fujian history came to an abrupt end. Fujian

7752-402: The CCP and Chiang's troops were temporarily avoided. In the last month of World War II in East Asia, Soviet forces launched the huge Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation against the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria and along the Chinese-Mongolian border. This operation destroyed the Kwantung Army in just three weeks and left the USSR occupying all of Manchuria by the end of the war in

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7904-456: The CCP as the greater threat. Chiang refused to ally with the CCP, preferring to unite China by eliminating the warlord and CCP forces first. He believed his forces were too weak to face the Japanese Imperial Army ; only after unification could the KMT mobilize against Japan. He ignored the Chinese people's discontent and anger at the KMT policy of compromise with the Japanese, instead ordering KMT generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng to suppress

8056-401: The CCP executed a "passive defense" strategy. It avoided the strong points of the KMT army and was prepared to abandon territory in order to preserve its forces. In most cases the surrounding countryside and small towns had come under Communist influence long before the cities. The CCP also attempted to wear out the KMT forces as much as possible. This tactic seemed to be successful; after a year,

8208-404: The CCP in 1943 with the propaganda piece China's Destiny , which questioned the CCP's power after the war, while the CCP strongly opposed Chiang's leadership and referred to his regime as fascist in an attempt to generate a negative public image. Both leaders knew that a deadly battle had begun between themselves. In general, developments in the Second Sino-Japanese War were to the advantage of

8360-430: The CCP to take the cities of Changsha , Shantou and Guangzhou. The Red Army consisting of mutinous former National Revolutionary Army (NRA) soldiers as well as armed peasants established control over several areas in southern China . KMT forces continued to attempt to suppress the rebellions. Then, in September, Wang Jingwei was forced out of Wuhan. September also saw an unsuccessful armed rural insurrection, known as

8512-433: The CCP was being supplied by the Soviet Union, the CCP was able to utilize a large number of weapons abandoned by the Japanese, including some tanks. When large numbers of well-trained KMT troops began to defect to the Communist forces, the CCP was finally able to achieve material superiority. The CCP's most effective political reform was its land reform policy. This drew the massive number of landless and starving peasants in

8664-402: The CCP was quickly suppressed the next day by the Nationalist government in Wuhan, led by Wang Jingwei. On 14 August, Chiang Kai-shek announced his temporary retirement, as the Wuhan faction and Nanjing faction of the Kuomintang were allied once again with common goal of suppressing the CCP after the earlier split. Wang Jingwei took the leadership of KMT after Chiang. Attempts were later made by

8816-414: The CCP with much fervor. In addition, the main KMT forces were preoccupied with annihilating Zhang Guotao 's army, which was much larger than Mao's. The massive military retreat of Communist forces lasted a year and covered what Mao estimated as 12,500 km (25,000 Li ); it became known as the Long March . This military retreat was undertaken by the Chinese Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, to evade

8968-506: The CCP, as its guerrilla war tactics had won them popular support within the Japanese-occupied areas. However, the KMT had to defend the country against the main Japanese campaigns, since it was the legal Chinese government, a factor which proved costly to Chiang Kai-shek and his troops. Japan launched its last major offensive against the KMT, Operation Ichi-Go , in 1944, which resulted in the severe weakening of Chiang's forces. The CCP also suffered fewer losses through its guerrilla tactics. By

9120-559: The CCP. However, their provincial forces suffered significant casualties in battles against the Red Army. On 12 December 1936, the disgruntled Zhang and Yang conspired to kidnap Chiang and force him into a truce with the CCP. The incident became known as the Xi'an Incident. Both parties suspended fighting to form a Second United Front to focus their energies and fight the Japanese. In 1937, Japan launched its full-scale invasion of China and its well-equipped troops overran KMT defenders in northern and coastal China. The alliance of CCP and KMT

9272-574: The CCP. On 15 November 1945, the KMT began a campaign to prevent the CCP from strengthening its already strong base. At the same time, however, the return of the KMT also brought widespread graft and corruption, with an OSS officer remarking that the only winners were the Communists. In the winter of 1945–1946, Joseph Stalin commanded Marshal Rodion Malinovsky to give Mao Zedong most Imperial Japanese Army weapons that were captured. Chiang Kai-shek's forces pushed as far as Chinchow (Jinzhou) by 26 November 1945, meeting with little resistance. This

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9424-400: The CCP. The CCP then began movements in opposition of the Northern Expedition , passing a resolution against it at a party meeting. Then, in March 1927, the KMT held its second party meeting where the Soviets helped pass resolutions against the Expedition and curbing Chiang's power. Soon, the KMT would be clearly divided. Throughout this time, the Soviet Union sent money and spies to support

9576-461: The CCP. Without their support, the CCP likely would have failed. This is evidenced by documents showing other communist parties in China at the time, one with as many as 10,000 members, which all failed without support from the Soviet Union. In early 1927, the KMT–CCP rivalry led to a split in the revolutionary ranks. The CCP and the left wing of the KMT decided to move the seat of the KMT government from Guangzhou to Wuhan , where communist influence

9728-484: The Communists. In 1936, Zhou Enlai and Zhang Xueliang grew closer, with Zhou even suggesting that he join the CCP. However, this was turned down by the Comintern in the USSR. Later on, Zhou persuaded Zhang and Yang Hucheng , another warlord, to instigate the Xi'an Incident. Chiang was placed under house arrest and forced to stop his attacks on the Red Army, instead focusing on the Japanese threat. During Japan's invasion and occupation of Manchuria , Chiang Kai-shek saw

9880-400: The Communists. If we do that, we start a chain reaction, because the Communists aren't after Quemoy and Matsu, they're after Formosa. In my opinion, this is the same kind of woolly thinking that led to disaster for America in Korea, I'm against it, I would never tolerate it as President of the United States, and I will hope that Senator Kennedy will change his mind if he should be elected. After

10032-412: The Hulushan culture ( 葫芦山文化 ) from 2050 to 1550 BC. Fujian was also where the kingdom of Minyue was located. The word "Mǐnyuè" was derived by combining "Mǐn" ( simplified Chinese : 闽 ; traditional Chinese : 閩 ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī : bân ), which is perhaps an ethnic name (simplified Chinese: 蛮 ; traditional Chinese: 蠻 ; pinyin: mán ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bân ), and " Yuè ", after

10184-442: The Japanese or ruled by Japanese puppet governments such as Manchukuo and the Reorganized National Government of China ). The situation came to a head in late 1940 and early 1941 when clashes between Communist and KMT forces intensified. Chiang demanded in December 1940 that the CCP's New Fourth Army evacuate Anhui and Jiangsu Provinces, due to its provocation and harassment of KMT forces in this area. Under intense pressure,

10336-454: The KMT camp decreased as his power increased. On 7 April, Chiang and several other KMT leaders held a meeting, during which they proposed that Communist activities were socially and economically disruptive and had to be undone for the Nationalist revolution to proceed. On 12 April, many communists within the KMT were purged in Shanghai through hundreds of arrests and executions on the orders of General Bai Chongxi . The CCP referred to this as

10488-415: The KMT government occupied most of the banks, factories and commercial properties, which had previously been seized by the Imperial Japanese Army. They also conscripted troops at an accelerated pace from the civilian population and hoarded supplies, preparing for a resumption of war with the Communists. These hasty and harsh preparations caused great hardship for the residents of cities such as Shanghai, where

10640-576: The KMT had no forces, the Japanese surrendered to the Soviet Union. Chiang Kai-shek reminded Japanese troops to remain at their posts to receive the KMT, but Communist forces soon began taking surrenders from the Japanese and fighting those who resisted. General Wedemeyer of the United States Army became alarmed at these developments and wanted seven American divisions to be sent to China, but General Marshall replied that it should not be given priority over Japan and Korea. The first post-war peace negotiation, attended by both Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong,

10792-444: The KMT. Within less than two years after the Sino-Japanese War, the KMT had received $ 4.43 billion from the US—most of which was military aid. Highlighting the aid provided by the US to the KMT, the Communists' position was that the US was stirring domestic warfare and characterized the civil war as both a national revolution against the KMT and a revolution against US colonization and aggression. As postwar negotiations between

10944-467: The Matsu Islands from the rest of Fujian province, and as communications were cut off between the Republic of China (now including Taiwan and without mainland China) and the PRC, the identity of the Matsu Islands specifically became established. Additionally, the varieties of Eastern Min on the Matsu Islands became seen as a Matsu dialect. Chen (陳) is the most common surname , then Lin (林), Wang (王), Tsao (曹) and Liu (劉). Matsu, though named after

11096-402: The Matsu Islands is also the shortest distance between China (PRC) administered territory and territory in the ROC (Taiwan)-administered Matsu Islands. Dongyin is the northernmost and Dongju is the southernmost. Areas: The islands are predominantly composed of Jurassic and Cretaceous intrusive (emplaced ≈160 Ma, ≈130 Ma and ≈94 Ma) granite and diabase . Average annual temperature

11248-524: The Matsu Islands specifically. Self-governance of the county resumed in 1992, after the cessation of political warfare with the mainland and the abolition of Battle Field Administration on 7 November 1992. Afterwards, local construction picked up pace. In 1999, the islands were designated as the Matsu National Scenic Area Administration. In January 2001, direct cargo and passenger shipping started between Matsu and Fujian Province of

11400-475: The Meizhou temple. Most Taiwanese pilgrims to Meizhou start off their journey in the Matsu Islands because they are the closest ROC-controlled territory to Meizhou, which is controlled by the PRC. Due to its geographically remote location, the manufacturing business of Matsu has never been fully developed. Among them, the wine making industry of Matsu Distillery is the most distinguished feature. Tourism has become

11552-887: The Min Dong linguistic and cultural region of Northeastern Fujian. Hakka Chinese is also spoken, by the Hakka people in Fujian. Min dialects, Hakka and Standard Chinese are mutually unintelligible. Due to emigration, a sizable amount of the ethnic Chinese populations of Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines speak Southern Min (or Hokkien). With a population of 41.5 million, Fujian ranks 15th in population among Chinese provinces. In 2022, Fujian's GDP reached CN¥5.31 trillion (US$ 790 billion by nominal GDP), ranking 4th in East China region and 8th nationwide in GDP. Fujian's GDP per capita

11704-587: The Nationalist government and the CCP failed, the civil war between these two parties resumed. This stage of war is referred to in mainland China and Communist historiography as the "War of Liberation" (Chinese: 解放战争 ; pinyin: Jiěfàng Zhànzhēng ). On 20 July 1946, Chiang Kai-shek launched a large-scale assault on Communist territory in North China with 113 brigades (a total of 1.6 million troops). Knowing their disadvantages in manpower and equipment,

11856-577: The Nationalist government in Wuhan. This conflict led to the creation of the Red Army . On 4 August, the main forces of the Red Army left Nanchang and headed southwards for an assault on Guangdong. Nationalist forces quickly reoccupied Nanchang while the remaining members of the CCP in Nanchang went into hiding. A CCP meeting on 7 August confirmed the objective of the party was to seize the political power by force, but

12008-560: The Neolithic and Chalcolithic Age where semi-underground circular buildings were found in the lower level. The Huangtulun ( 黃土崙 ) site ( c.  1325 BC ), also in suburban Fuzhou, was of the Bronze Age in character. Tianlong Jiao (2013) notes that the Neolithic appeared on the coast of Fujian around 6,000 B.P. During the Neolithic, the coast of Fujian had a low population density, with

12160-862: The New Fourth Army commanders complied. The following year they were ambushed by KMT forces during their evacuation, which led to several thousand deaths. It also ended the Second United Front, formed earlier to fight the Japanese. As clashes between the CCP and KMT intensified, countries such as the United States and the Soviet Union attempted to prevent a disastrous civil war. After the New Fourth Army incident, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent special envoy Lauchlin Currie to talk with Chiang Kai-shek and KMT party leaders to express their concern regarding

12312-609: The Northeast. These favorable conditions also facilitated many changes inside the Communist leadership: the more radical hard-line faction who wanted a complete military take-over of China finally gained the upper hand and defeated the careful opportunists. Before giving control to Communist leaders, on 27 March, Soviet diplomats requested a joint venture of industrial development with the Nationalist Party in Manchuria. Although General Marshall stated that he knew of no evidence that

12464-481: The PRC in 1950 and 1951. In early July 1953, Chinese Nationalist guerillas retreated from islands in the Xiyang Island (Chihchutao) area of present-day Haidao Township (PRC), and the area came under the control of the PRC. In June 1955, the PRC undertook considerable road and military construction around Haitan Island , Pingtan County, Fuzhou, Fujian, China, including roads leading to possible artillery positions on

12616-515: The PRC, which the United States did not recognize as the legitimate government of China. However, in the second debate on 7 October 1960, the two candidates stated different opinions about whether American forces should also be used to protect Taiwan 's forward positions, Quemoy and Matsu. Senator Kennedy stated that these islands — as little as 9 kilometres (5.5 mi) off the coast of China and as much as 170 kilometres (106 mi) from Taiwan — were strategically indefensible and were not essential to

12768-568: The PRC. After 1 January 2015, tourists from mainland China could directly apply the Exit and Entry Permit upon arrival in Matsu Islands. That privilege also applied to Penghu and Kinmen, as a means to boost tourism in the outlying islands of Taiwan. In December 2015, the Huangqi -Matsu ship route was introduced as part of the Mini Three Links . In 2020, rampant illegal sand mining by Chinese ships in

12920-423: The Qing dynasty and brought the province into the rule of the Republic of China . The anarchist Constitution Protection Region of Southern Fujian was established by Chen Jiongming from 1918 to 1920. Fujian briefly established the independent Fujian People's Government in 1933. It was re-controlled by the Republic of China in 1934. Fujian came under a Japanese sea blockade during World War II . After

13072-409: The ROC local elections. The incumbent magistrate is Wang Chung-ming of Kuomintang . The Lienchiang County Council seat is dominated by Kuomintang legislators. Lienchiang County is divided into four rural townships . It is further divided into 22 villages and 137 neighborhoods (鄰). Lienchiang County is the only county in Taiwan which does not have a city or an urban township . The county seat

13224-486: The Southern Tang state. (Zhang Prefecture was, at times during the circuit's existence, also known as Nan Prefecture ( 南州 ).) Starting in 960, in addition to being nominally submissive to Southern Tang, Qingyuan Circuit was also nominally submissive to Song , which had itself become Southern Tang's nominal overlord. After Liu's death, the circuit was briefly ruled by his biological nephew/adoptive son Liu Shaozi , who

13376-401: The United States has on occasion attempted, mostly in the middle '50s to persuade Chiang Kai-shek to pull his troops back to Formosa. I believe strongly in the defense of Formosa. These islands are a few miles, five or six miles off the coast of Red China within a general harbor area, and more than a hundred miles from Formosa. We have never said flatly that we will defend Quemoy and Matsu if it

13528-461: The United States' role in what was an extremely tense situation. Polls of Republicans and Democrats showed overwhelming support for Nixon's position. Sheng-Chang Lin stated that the Matsu Islands gained a collective identity during the Cold War period. Additionally, the islands gained significant relationships to Taiwan, now sharing a government with them. By 2021, younger people identified as being from

13680-626: The Western Jin dynasty. Like other southern provinces such as Guangdong , Guangxi , Guizhou , and Yunnan , Fujian often served as a destination for exiled prisoners and dissidents at that time. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties era, the Southern Dynasties ( Liu Song , Southern Qi , Liang ( Western Liang ), and Chen ) reigned south of the Yangtze River , including Fujian. During

13832-551: The base for development of Fuao settlement and industrial development of the region over several hundred years. Some crewmen of Zheng He temporarily stayed on the islands. During the early Qing dynasty , pirates gathered here and the residents left temporarily. In contrast with Taiwan and Penghu , the Matsu Islands were not ceded to the Japanese Empire via the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Due to its strategic location along

13984-504: The chairman of the Military Commission, with Zhou and Deng Xiaoping as vice-chairmen." This marked Mao's position as the pre-eminent leader of the CCP, with Zhou in second position to him. The march ended when the CCP reached the interior of Shaanxi . Zhang Guotao 's army (Red 4th Front Army), which took a different route through northwest China, was largely destroyed by the forces of Chiang Kai-shek and his Chinese Muslim allies,

14136-462: The countryside into the Communist cause. This strategy enabled the CCP to access an almost unlimited supply of manpower for both combat and logistical purposes; despite suffering heavy casualties throughout many of the war's campaigns, manpower continued to grow. For example, during the Huaihai Campaign alone the CCP was able to mobilize 5,430,000 peasants to fight against the KMT forces. After

14288-780: The defense of Taiwan. Vice President Nixon maintained that, since Quemoy and Matsu were in the "area of freedom", they should not, as a matter of principle, be surrendered to the Communists. Earlier in the debate, Nixon said: In the Truman Administration 600 million people went behind the Iron Curtain including the satellite countries of Eastern Europe and Communist China . In this Administration we have stopped them at Quemoy and Matsu, we have stopped them in Indo China , we have stopped them in Lebanon , we have stopped them in other parts of

14440-443: The economy. The GDP per capita in Fujian is ranked 4-6th place among provinces of China in recent years. Development has been accompanied by a large influx of population from the overpopulated areas to Fujian's north and west, and much of the farmland and forest, as well as cultural heritage sites such as the temples of king Wuzhu, have given way to ubiquitous high-rise buildings. Fujian faces challenges to sustain development while at

14592-404: The effort of the central government to penetrate and destabilize local Han warlords such as Liu Wenhui . The government was seeking to exert full control over frontier areas against the warlords. Liu had refused to battle the Communists in order to conserve his army. The Consolatory Commission forces were used to battle the Red Army, but they were defeated when their religious leader was captured by

14744-594: The end of 1949, but retained some of the offshore parts of Lienchiang County (namely, the Matsu Islands), and also most of Kinmen County (Quemoy). On 15 December 1950, the Matsu Administrative Office ( 馬祖行政公署 ) of Fujian Province, Republic of China , was established, including modern-day Lienchiang County (the Matsu Islands), as well as several islands in present-day Haidao Township ( Xiapu County ) and Taishan ( 台山 ) ( Fuding County ) which were lost to

14896-633: The end of the 11th century the descendants of a fisherman named Trần Kinh, whose hometown was in Tức Mạc village in Đại Việt (Modern day Vietnam), would marry the royal Lý clan, which was then founded the Vietnam Tran dynasty in 1225. In Vietnam, the Trần served as officials. The surnames are found in the Trần and Lý dynasty Imperial exam records. Chinese ethnic groups are recorded in Trần and Lý dynasty records of officials. Clothing, food, and languages were fused with

15048-529: The end of the war, the Red Army had grown to more than 1.3 million members, with a separate militia of over 2.6 million. About one hundred million people lived in CCP-controlled zones. Under the terms of the Japanese unconditional surrender dictated by the Allies, Japanese troops were to surrender to KMT troops but not to the CCP, which was present in some of the occupied areas. In Manchuria , however, where

15200-438: The first four remain the most popular surnames in Fujian. Nevertheless, isolation from nearby areas owing to rugged terrain contributed to Fujian's relatively undeveloped economy and level of development, despite major population boosts from northern China during the "barbarian" rebellions. The population density in Fujian remained low compared to the rest of China. Only two commanderies and sixteen counties were established by

15352-621: The formation of a solid central government. After Sun's efforts to obtain aid from Western countries were ignored, he turned to the Soviet Union . In 1923, Sun and Soviet representative Adolph Joffe in Shanghai pledged Soviet assistance to China's unification in the Sun–Joffe Manifesto , a declaration of cooperation among the Comintern , KMT, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Comintern agent Mikhail Borodin arrived in 1923 to aid in

15504-474: The goddess Matsu , is written with a different character that has a different tone. But the Matsu Islands are not the birthplace of the goddess as the human Lin Muoniang - Meizhou Island is — but her death place (on a seaport named after her on Nangan Island). The Matsu Nangan Tianhou Temple ( 馬祖南竿天后宮 ), a temple dedicated to the goddess, contains the sarcophagus of Lin Muoniang. It is, however, not as popular as

15656-514: The groups remained common. Exacerbating the divisions within China further was the formation of the Wang Jingwei regime , a Japan-sponsored puppet government ostensibly led by Wang Jingwei , which was established to nominally govern the regions of China that came under Japanese occupation. The civil war resumed as soon as it became apparent that Japanese defeat was imminent, with the communists gaining

15808-584: The heart of Mao's Soviet Chinese Republic . During these campaigns, KMT columns struck swiftly into CCP areas, but were easily engulfed by the vast countryside and were not able to consolidate their foothold. Finally, in late 1934, Chiang launched a fifth campaign that involved the systematic encirclement of the Jiangxi Soviet region with fortified blockhouses . The blockhouse strategy was devised and implemented in part by newly hired Nazi advisors. Unlike previous campaigns in which they penetrated deeply in

15960-420: The hostility between the two parties, with Currie stating that the only ones to benefit from a civil war would be the Japanese. The Soviet Union, allied more closely with the CCP, sent an imperative telegram to Mao in 1941, warning that civil war would also make the situation easier for the Japanese military. Due to the international community's efforts, there was a temporary and superficial peace. Chiang criticized

16112-544: The internationally recognized republic capital in Beijing , the CCP and left-wing KMT at Wuhan and the right-wing KMT regime at Nanjing , which would remain the KMT capital for the next decade. This marked the beginning of a ten-year armed struggle, known in mainland China as the "Ten-Year Civil War" (十年内战) which ended with the Xi'an Incident , when Chiang Kai-shek was forced to form the Second United Front against invading forces from

16264-638: The local Vietnamese in Vân Đồn district where the Chinese ethnic groups had moved after leaving their home province of what is now Fujian, Guangxi, and Guangdong. In 1172, Fujian was attacked by Pi-she-ye pirates from Taiwan or the Visayas , Philippines . After the establishment of the Yuan dynasty , Fujian became part of Jiangzhe province , whose capital was at Hangzhou . From 1357 to 1366 Muslims in Quanzhou participated in

16416-532: The mainland. Those positions might have been used to protect the Haitan Strait, which was considered a favorable staging area for amphibious operations against the Matsu Islands. In July 1958, the PRC began massing forces opposite Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu (Lienchiang) and began bombarding them on 23 August, triggering the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis . On 4 September 1958, the PRC announced the extension of its territorial waters by 20 kilometres (12 mi) to include

16568-472: The most culturally and linguistically diverse provinces in China. The dialects of the language group Min Chinese are most commonly spoken within the province, including the Fuzhou dialect and Eastern Min of Northeastern Fujian province and various Southern Min and Hokkien dialects of southeastern Fujian. The capital city of Fuzhou and Fu'an of Ningde prefecture along with Cangnan county-level city of Wenzhou prefecture in Zhejiang province make up

16720-458: The nearby Lianjiang County on the mainland. Then-Magistrate Chen Hsueh-sheng said some local people opposed the name change because they felt it reflected the pro-independence viewpoint of the Democratic Progressive Party . Chinese from Fujian and Zhejiang started migrating to the islands during the Yuan dynasty . Most of the people on Matsu came from Houguan ( 侯官 ) (today Changle , Fujian ). The popular net fishing industry established

16872-451: The next generation of military leaders. The Soviets provided the academy with teaching material, organization, and equipment, including munitions. They also provided education in many of the techniques for mass mobilization. With this aid, Sun raised a dedicated "army of the party", with which he hoped to defeat the warlords militarily. CCP members were also present in the academy, and many of them became instructors, including Zhou Enlai , who

17024-477: The noble class arrived in the province in the early 4th century when the Western Jin dynasty collapsed and the north was torn apart by civil wars and rebellions by tribal peoples from the north and west. These immigrants were primarily from eight families in central China : Chen ( 陈 ), Lin ( 林 ), Huang ( 黄 ), Zheng ( 郑 ), Zhan ( 詹 ), Qiu ( 邱 ), He ( 何 ), and Hu ( 胡 ). To this day,

17176-403: The northeast to oppose some 600,000 KMT troops. There were 40,000 CCP casualties at Zhangjiakou alone. They in turn killed, wounded or captured some 520,000 KMT during the campaign. After achieving decisive victory at Liaoshen, Huaihai and Pingjin campaigns, the CCP destroyed 144 regular and 29 irregular KMT divisions, including 1.54 million veteran KMT troops, which significantly reduced

17328-649: The only route for the spice traffic, the British established the Dongyong Lighthouse in Dongyin Island in 1912 to facilitate ships navigation. In 1911, the Qing dynasty was toppled after the Xinhai Revolution on 10 October 1911 and the Republic of China (ROC) was established on 1 January 1912. Matsu Islands were subsequently governed under the administration of Fukien Province of the ROC. On 1 August 1927,

17480-519: The outbreak of the Red Turban Rebellion . Forces loyal to the eventual Ming dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu Emperor) defeated Chen in 1367. After the establishment of the Ming dynasty , Fujian became a province, with its capital at Fuzhou. In the early Ming era, Fuzhou Changle was the staging area and supply depot of Zheng He 's naval expeditions . Further development was severely hampered by

17632-510: The period immediately before the Korean War, South Korea was supposed to be indefensible as well. Generals testified to that, and Secretary Acheson made a very famous speech at the Press Club early in the year that the Korean War started, indicating in effect that South Korea was beyond the defense zone of the United States. I suppose it was hoped when he made that speech that we wouldn't get into

17784-438: The population decreased year after year due to the poor economic growth which resulted in mass youth emigration due to lack of employment opportunities. In recent years the population in the county has gradually increased because of immigration. The population has stabilized due to the improved transportation between Taiwan Island and Matsu Islands as well as mass construction projects. The native language spoken by Matsu residents

17936-499: The population depending on mostly on fishing and hunting, along with limited agriculture. There were four major Neolithic cultures in coastal Fujian, with the earliest Neolithic cultures originating from the north in coastal Zhejiang . There were two major Neolithic cultures in inland Fujian, which were highly distinct from the coastal Fujian Neolithic cultures. These are the Niubishan culture ( 牛鼻山文化 ) from 5000 to 4000 years ago, and

18088-580: The power balance became more favorable to the CCP. They wiped out 1.12 million KMT troops, while their strength grew to about two million men. In March 1947, the KMT achieved a symbolic victory by seizing Yan'an, the capital of the Yan'an Soviet . The Communists counterattacked soon afterwards; on 30 June 1947, CCP troops crossed the Yellow River and moved to the Dabie Mountains area, restored and developed

18240-459: The power of the Chinese Communist Party grew considerably. Their main force grew to 1.2 million troops, backed with additional militia of 2 million, totalling 3.2 million troops. Their "Liberated Zone" in 1945 contained 19 base areas, including one-quarter of the country's territory and one-third of its population; this included many important towns and cities. Moreover, the Soviet Union turned over all of its captured Japanese weapons and

18392-609: The pursuit or attack of the Kuomintang army. It consisted of a series of marches, during which numerous Communist armies in the south escaped to the north and west. Over the course of the march from Jiangxi the First Front Army, led by an inexperienced military commission, was on the brink of annihilation by Chiang Kai-Shek's troops as their stronghold was in Jiangxi. The Communists, under the command of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, "escaped in

18544-503: The region. However, the Soviets refused permission for the Nationalist troops to traverse its territory and spent the extra time systematically dismantling the extensive Manchurian industrial base (worth up to $ 2 billion) and shipping it back to their war-ravaged country. KMT troops were then airlifted by the US to occupy key cities in North China, while the countryside was already dominated by

18696-598: The reorganization and consolidation of both the CCP and the KMT along the lines of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . The CCP, which was initially a study group, and the KMT jointly formed the First United Front . In 1923, Sun sent Chiang Kai-shek , one of his lieutenants, for several months of military and political study in Moscow. Chiang then became the head of the Whampoa Military Academy that trained

18848-499: The same name that is now divided between the administrations of the ROC and the PRC . Lienchiang County, Taiwan (R.O.C.) uses the traditional Chinese characters name ( 連江縣 ) and the romanized name Lienchiang which is derived from the Wade-Giles romanization ( Lien²-chiang¹ ) of the Mandarin pronunciation for those Chinese characters that also refer to Lianjiang County , Fuzhou , Fujian in mainland China . Lienchiang has also been written as Lien-chiang and Lienkiang and by

19000-482: The same thing. I believe that when you get into a war, if you're going to get into a war for the defense of Formosa, it ought to be on a clearly defined line. One of the problems, I think, at the time of South Korea was the question of whether the United States would defend it if it were attacked. I believe that we should defend Formosa, we should come to its defense. It leaves this rather in the air that we will defend it under some conditions but not under others, I think it

19152-461: The same time preserving Fujian's natural and cultural heritage. The province is mostly mountainous and is traditionally said to be "eight parts mountain, one part water, and one part farmland" ( 八山一水一分田 ). The northwest is higher in altitude, with the Wuyi Mountains forming the border between Fujian and Jiangxi . It is the most forested provincial-level administrative region in China, with a 62.96% forest coverage rate in 2009. Fujian's highest point

19304-673: The strength of Nationalist forces. Stalin initially favored a coalition government in postwar China, and tried to persuade Mao to stop the CCP from crossing the Yangtze and attacking the KMT positions south of the river. Mao rejected Stalin's position and on 21 April, began the Yangtze River Crossing Campaign . On 23 April, they captured the KMT's capital, Nanjing. The KMT government retreated to Canton (Guangzhou) until 15 October, Chongqing until 25 November, and then Chengdu before retreating to Taiwan on 7 December. By late 1949,

19456-702: The surname Trần (陳) migrated to Vietnam from what is now Fujian or Guangxi. They settled along the coast of Vietnam and the capital's southeastern area. The Vietnamese Trần clan traces their ancestry to Trần Tự Minh (227 BC). He was a Qin General during the Warring state period who belonged to the indigenous Mân, a Baiyue ethnic group of Southern China and Northern Vietnam. Tự Minh also served under King An Dương Vương of Âu Lạc kingdom in resisting Qin 's conquest of Âu Lạc. Their genealogy also included Trần Tự Viễn (582 – 637) of Giao Châu and Trần Tự An (1010 - 1077) of Đại Việt. Near

19608-508: The third debate on 13 October 1960, Kennedy's advisers spoke with then Secretary of State Herter and said that Kennedy was willing to revise his position on the Quemoy and Matsu issue so as not to give the Communists the impression that the United States would not stand united against aggression. Nixon pointed out the change in Kennedy's position but decided not to press the point due to the importance of

19760-533: The three northern townships of the Matsu Islands as Matsu Township ( 馬祖鄉 ; Mǎzǔ Xiāng ; Mā-cū hiŏng) and the Juguang Islands (the southernmost islands, formerly named the Baiquan Islands) as part of Changle District . Vessels from the Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) have confronted sand dredging by Chinese vessels near the Matsu Islands. This dredging activity began in 2018. Since March 2019,

19912-523: The two Chinese leaders. It concluded with the signing of the Double Tenth Agreement . Both sides stressed the importance of a peaceful reconstruction, but the conference did not produce any concrete results. Battles between the two sides continued even as peace negotiations were in progress, until the agreement was reached in January 1946. However, large campaigns and full-scale confrontations between

20064-515: The two islands. However, later that month, after talks between the United States and the PRC in Warsaw , Poland , a ceasefire was agreed and the status quo reaffirmed. The phrase " Quemoy and Matsu" became part of American political language in the 1960 U.S. presidential election . During the debates, both candidates, Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy , pledged to use American forces if necessary to protect Taiwan from invasion by

20216-984: The unemployment rate rose dramatically to 37.5%. Hyperinflation meant those employed in the Kuomintang forces lost the purchasing power of their pay. This resulted in corruption and the embezzlement of supplies which disappeared into the barter economy. Ordinary Kuomintang soldiers were often malnourished and desertion was common. The US strongly supported the Kuomintang forces. About 50,000 US soldiers were sent to guard strategic sites in Hebei and Shandong in Operation Beleaguer . The US equipped and trained KMT troops, and transported Japanese and Koreans back to help KMT forces to occupy liberated zones as well as to contain Communist-controlled areas. According to William Blum , American aid included substantial amounts of mostly surplus military supplies, and loans were made to

20368-480: The upper hand in the second phase of the war from 1945 to 1949, generally referred to as the Chinese Communist Revolution . The Communists gained control of mainland China and proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949, forcing the leadership of the Republic of China to retreat to the island of Taiwan . Starting in the 1950s, a lasting political and military stand-off between the two sides of

20520-451: The war with the Japanese ended, Chiang Kai-shek quickly moved KMT troops to newly liberated areas to prevent Communist forces from receiving the Japanese surrender. The US airlifted many KMT troops from central China to the Northeast (Manchuria). President Harry S. Truman was very clear about what he described as "using the Japanese to hold off the Communists". In his memoirs he writes: It

20672-480: The waters around the Matsu Islands caused concern in the islands and in the Executive Yuan about damage to the marine environment, possible damage to underwater telecommunications cables, and the potential for coastal erosion. Auctioning impounded ships was seen as an easy way for the dredging companies to get their ships back via intermediaries, hence sinking the impounded ships was under consideration. In 2021, it

20824-405: The world. Later in the debate, Edward P. Morgan asked Senator Kennedy: Senator, Saturday on television, you said that you had always thought that Quemoy and Matsu were unwise places to draw our defense line in the Far East. Would you comment further on that, and also address to this question: couldn't a pull-back from those islands be interpreted as appeasement ? Kennedy's response was: Well,

20976-563: Was a de facto kingdom until one of the emperors of the Qin dynasty , the first unified imperial Chinese state, abolished its status. In the aftermath of the Qin dynasty's fall, civil war broke out between two warlords, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang . The Minyue king Wuzhu sent his troops to fight with Liu and his gamble paid off. Liu was victorious and founded the Han dynasty . In 202 BC, he restored Minyue's status as

21128-537: Was a colony of the Empire of Japan . Additionally, he stated that the islands at the time had separate identities and did not have a collective identity as the Matsu Islands. Previous groups of islanders perceived themselves as Fujianese. On 10 September 1937, Japan occupied Beigan and Nangan via the Collaborationist Chinese Army , making the islands the first in Fujian to fall to Japan. The islands were not occupied by Japanese troops during World War II because they were not important militarily. The Lienchiang County seat

21280-412: Was followed by a Communist offensive on the Shandong Peninsula that was largely successful, as all of the peninsula, except what was controlled by the US, fell to the Communists. The truce fell apart in June 1946 when full-scale war between CCP and KMT forces broke out on 26 June 1946. China then entered a state of civil war that lasted more than three years. By the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War,

21432-422: Was forced to surrender after the CCP conducted a brutal six-month siege of Changchun that resulted in more than 150,000 civilian deaths from starvation. The capture of large KMT units provided the CCP with the tanks, heavy artillery and other combined-arms assets needed to execute offensive operations south of the Great Wall. By April 1948, the city of Luoyang fell, cutting the KMT army off from Xi'an. Following

21584-417: Was in Chongqing from 28 August to 10 October 1945. Chiang entered the meeting at an advantage because he had recently signed a friendly treaty with the Soviet Union while the Communists were still forcing the Japanese to surrender in some places. Mao was accompanied by American ambassador Patrick J. Hurley , who was devoted to Chiang but also wanted to ensure Mao's safety in light of the past history between

21736-403: Was in name only. Unlike the KMT forces, CCP troops shunned conventional warfare and instead waged guerrilla warfare against the Japanese. The level of actual cooperation and coordination between the CCP and KMT during World War II was minimal. In the midst of the Second United Front, the CCP and the KMT were still vying for territorial advantage in " Free China " (i.e., areas not occupied by

21888-424: Was made a political instructor. Communist members were allowed to join the KMT on an individual basis. The CCP itself was still small at the time, having a membership of 300 in 1922 and only 1,500 by 1925. As of 1923, the KMT had 50,000 members. However, after Sun died in 1925, the KMT split into left- and right-wing movements. KMT members worried that the Soviets were trying to destroy the KMT from inside using

22040-468: Was moved to Danyang Township on 19 April 1941 until the Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945. As a result of the Chinese Civil War , in 1949 the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took over mainland China from the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT). The CCP established the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 October 1949, which included administration of today's Lianjiang County of Fujian . The KMT retreated from mainland China to Taiwan at

22192-432: Was part of the much larger Yang Province (Yangzhou), whose provincial capital was designated in Liyang (歷陽; present-day He County, Anhui ). The Han dynasty collapsed at the end of the 2nd century AD, paving the way for the Three Kingdoms era. Sun Quan , the founder of the Kingdom of Wu , spent nearly 20 years subduing the Shan Yue people, the branch of the Yue living in mountains. The first wave of immigration of

22344-438: Was perfectly clear to us that if we told the Japanese to lay down their arms immediately and march to the seaboard, the entire country would be taken over by the Communists. We therefore had to take the unusual step of using the enemy as a garrison until we could airlift Chinese National troops to South China and send Marines to guard the seaports. Using the pretext of "receiving the Japanese surrender", business interests within

22496-425: Was reorganized into the Fujian Circuit in 985, which was the first time the name "Fujian" was used for an administrative region. Many Chinese migrated from Fujian's major ports to Vietnam's Red River Delta . The settlers then created Trần port and Vân Đồn . Fujian and Guangdong Chinese moved to the Vân Đồn coastal port to engage in commerce. During the Lý and Trần dynasties , many Chinese ethnic groups with

22648-679: Was reported that hundreds of Chinese squid fishing boats surrounded Matsu, and the lights from the boats to attract the squid lit up the local sky in green at night. In February 2023, two submarine cables between Matsu and Taiwan island were completely cut, causing Matsu residents' communication services to be affected. The Matsu Islands comprise 19 islands and islets, which include five major islands, which are Nangan , Dongju and Xiju (both in Juguang Township), Beigan and Dongyin. Minor islands include Liang Island , Gaodeng Island , Daqiu Island and Xiaoqiu, which are part of Beigan Township . The shortest distance between Huangqi, Lianjiang County and

22800-400: Was strong. However, Chiang and Li Zongren , whose armies defeated the warlord Sun Chuanfang , moved eastward toward Jiangxi . The leftists rejected Chiang's demand to eliminate Communist influence within KMT, and Chiang denounced them for betraying Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People by taking orders from the Soviet Union. According to Mao Zedong , Chiang's tolerance of the CCP in

22952-419: Was then overthrown by the officers Zhang Hansi and Chen Hongjin . Zhang then ruled the circuit briefly, before Chen deposed him and took over. In 978, with Song's determination to unify Chinese lands in full order, Chen decided that he could not stay de facto independent, and offered the control of the circuit to Song's Emperor Taizong , ending Qingyuan Circuit as a de facto independent entity. The area

23104-404: Was under the control of the Nanjing central government, which received prompt international recognition as the sole legitimate government of China. The KMT government announced, in conformity with Sun Yat-sen, the formula for the three stages of revolution: military unification, political tutelage, and constitutional democracy. On 1 August 1927, the CCP launched an uprising in Nanchang against

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