Quemoy Island

Quemoy Island, island under the jurisdiction of Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait at the mouth of mainland China’s Xiamen (Amoy) Bay and about 170 miles (275 km) northwest of Kao-hsiung, Taiwan. Quemoy is the principal island of a group of 12, the Quemoy (Chin-men) Islands, which constitute Chin-men hsien (county). While most of the smaller islands are low and flat, Quemoy Island is hilly, with both a tableland and rocky areas. The climate is monsoonal subtropical. Farming, the main occupation, produces sweet potatoes, peanuts (groundnuts), sorghum, barley, wheat, soybeans, vegetables, and rice. The government has improved production by building dams and reservoirs, undertaking reforestation efforts, and developing fisheries. Quemoy is noted for its sorghum liquor (kao-liang). Tourism has been promoted since the early 1990s. The all-weather port of Shui-t’ou, situated on the southern coast, serves the main town, Chin-men (Quemoy).

Once part of the mainland’s Fujian province, Quemoy and the other islands in the group were occupied by the Nationalist Chinese when they were driven from the mainland to Taiwan in 1949. Thereafter, Quemoy—which at its closest point is only about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) off the Fujian coast—was subject to periodic artillery exchanges with communist forces on the mainland. One such incident, in 1958, (which also included Matsu Island to the north) provoked an international diplomatic crisis, when the communists heavily bombarded both islands and demanded that the Nationalists there surrender. The standoff was diffused only after the United States interposed the 7th Fleet between the mainland and Taiwan. The island, heavily fortified and its ownership contested, remained under Nationalist military administration until 1992, when civilian rule was restored. Kinmen National Park, established in 1995 and situated on Quemoy and three neighbouring islands, preserves areas of historical interest and natural beauty. Area Quemoy Island, 51 square miles (132 square km). Pop. (2003 est.) county, 60,183.