Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-08-10
A new exhibition has opened in Taipei to mark the 60th anniversary of a historic
A new exhibition has opened in Taipei to mark the 60th anniversary of a historic cross-strait artillery battle, the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1958.
cross-strait artillery battle, the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1958.
On August 23, 1958, China’s People’s Liberation Army began an intense artillery bombardment of the island of Kinmen, then better known as Quemoy. The island lies a short distance off the coast of mainland China, and had been held by the Nationalist forces of the Republic of China following their retreat to Taiwan in 1949, along with the Matsu islands further to the north.
Over the course of the following month and a half, close to half a million shells fell on Kinmen, with Nationalist forces returning fire. Around 400 Nationalist soldiers were killed, with 460 troops killed on the Chinese side. The Eisenhower administration of the United States responded to Taiwan’s request for aid by sending American naval vessels to protect supply lines to the islands. [FULL STORY]