New Delhi:
In his New Year’s speech a week ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping threatened that “no one can stop” the unification of Taiwan and China. During President Xi’s speech, the People’s Liberation Army Navy conducted military drills to demonstrate its power to Taiwan and the rest of the democratic world.
Many of the military exercises took place near Kinmen and Matsu islands, which are Taiwan’s sovereign territory and are just 5.3 nautical miles (10 km) and 10 nautical miles (19 km) from mainland China’s coast, respectively. In comparison, these islands are 150 nautical miles (280 km) and 114 nautical miles (211 km) from Taiwan’s coast.
It is interesting that Beijing has been unable to capture these Taiwanese islands in combat, despite sharing a coastline with mainland China. In fact, China has suffered decisive defeats against Taiwan twice.
China vs. Republic of China
China and Taiwan are separated by the Taiwan Strait, a waterway that connects the South China Sea and East China Sea between the two countries.
Before 1949, China was known as the Republic of China and was founded on an ideology of democratic values. It was founded in 1912 and led by the Kuomintang, advocated by its founder and ideologue Sun Yat-sen, who organized the party on the values of democratic centralism. Years later, during a civil war with Communist forces led by Mao Zedong, the Kuomintang was led by Chiang Kai-shek, the party’s co-founder and then president of the Republic of China.
The Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 with the victory of Mao Zedong’s communist movement and the defeat of Chiang Kai-shek’s ruling Kuomintang, which was forced to flee to Taiwan. Mao Zedong declared that the Republic of China would henceforth be known to the world as the Communist state, the People’s Republic of China.
The Kuomintang and its democratic ideals took refuge in the island nation of Taiwan, whose official name is still the democratic nation of the Republic of China.
This is the way it has been for the past 76 years, despite repeated attempts by communist forces to destroy democracy and wipe its ideals from Taiwan and its territory, all of which have failed.
China, now considered the world’s superpower, still aims to claim Taiwan as its own, and Xi Jinping, who now heads the Chinese Communist Party, hopes to accomplish what Mao Zedong failed to do.
Battle of Kinmen
At the end of the civil war, with victory over mainland China assured, Mao Zedong’s Communist Party decided to launch a crushing offensive against Taiwan, the last unconquered frontier. Their hatred of the Kuomintang and its democratic ideals was so fervent that the Communist Party wanted to eradicate every corner of the Republic of China. Beijing’s stance on occupying Taiwan “at any cost” stems from its policy that as long as the Republic of China exists, an uprising, civil war, or the spread of another ideology could emerge through the cracks in its armor. . .
Occupying Taiwan would mean leaving the mainland and sending troops to an overseas island nation to fight a war within its own territory, which is no easy task. Mao Zedong decided that in order to ultimately occupy Taiwan, he would first need to capture islands and territories close to the mainland, namely Kinmen Island and Matsu Island.
Kinmen Island consists of two large islands and 13 islets. Mao Zedong decided to target Taiwan’s two territories first because it was the closer of them. The largest island, Dakinmen Island, was the main target. However, its geography was advantageous to Taiwan’s military. To the east is a mountainous region, and the coastline is rocky and rugged, making it exposed to external threats. On the west side facing mainland China, there is a coast that is easy for enemies to invade in times of war, and is also logistically suitable for Beijing.
The Chinese military decided to do this in two parts. Approximately 10,000 soldiers initially arrived on the island and set up a garrison, then waited for reinforcements to arrive, which then consisted of another 10,000 soldiers. They believed this would be enough to overwhelm the Taiwanese army, which was estimated to be of similar strength in numbers. China believed that the fall of mainland China would demoralize the Taiwanese army and that it would be easily defeated. But it wasn’t supposed to be that way.
Anticipating such a move by Communist China, Taiwan’s military had lined the coastline with nearly 7,500 mines. The beach was secured to deter any form of amphibious transport, and the rest of the island was fortified with strategically placed mines, traps, and hundreds of bunkers.
Taiwan was well prepared for a similar attack, having reinforced not only its infantry but also its armored division, which included two tank regiments. Fighting began on October 25, with China aiming to seize control of the island within three days. Thus began the battle of demons. Officially known as the Battle of Guningtou.
Mines and traps caused heavy casualties to the Chinese army, and Taiwanese armored divisions dealt devastating blows to the Chinese army. The amphibious transport ship was damaged by anti-amphibious weapons and eventually washed ashore on the island. Their failure to return to the mainland meant that the next batch of soldiers could not be dispatched in time.
Artillery fire from mainland China did not help much. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s air force and navy launched a counterattack, first damaging all Chinese shipping near the Kinmen Islands. Chinese soldiers suffered heavy casualties from the American machine guns and tanks used by the Taiwanese army.
At the end of the first day, the Chinese army had lost more than half of its soldiers and more than 70 percent of its ammunition and transportation. Boats and amphibious ships were destroyed, and the troops were stranded. The Taiwanese army also further strengthened its position by largely cutting off Guningtou.
Reinforcements managed to arrive the next day, and about 1,000 Chinese soldiers joined the battle. By then, however, the Taiwanese army was on the offensive, with American-made M5A1 Suat light tanks supporting infantry and taking control of Guningtou, then under communist control.
By the end of the second day, the Chinese army ran out of food and supplies. The next morning, Taiwanese soldiers overwhelmed the communist forces and more than 5,000 soldiers were taken prisoner. Not only was Kinmen Island retained by Taiwan, but communist forces also lost control of Guningtou. It was a humiliating defeat for Mao Zedong and the People’s Republic of China, whose name had only been proclaimed earlier that month.
Since the 1950s, China has attempted multiple invasions, all of which have failed. As China’s influence has grown, the United States has supported Taiwan several times, but China has never dared to attack the US Navy directly because Beijing did not want a direct war with Washington.
Today, China still views Taiwan as a rebellious island province that must be occupied “at all costs.” Beijing has repeatedly said it will not renounce the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Its war drills have grown in scale and frequency, with the latest exercise recently taking place on New Year’s Day.
