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> A few kilometers away, the Chinese coast was faintly visible from Lin’s boat. He was on the lookout for Chinese sand-dredging ships encroaching on waters cont

> A few kilometers away, the Chinese coast was faintly visible from Lin’s boat. He was on the lookout for Chinese sand-dredging ships encroaching on waters controlled by Taiwan. Right. The mainland is less than 6 miles from Matsu. Taiwan is over 100 miles away. This was something Nixon and Kennedy were arguing about on television in 1960. Taiwan decided it wants control of these islands right up against the mainland, and has been going through contortions to control the coastal zone around them for 70 years. Control which China has never recognized (well Taiwan's position is that the mainland belongs to it too).

aaron695 6y ago
Video: https://youtu.be/OHjWb5XsAMI?t=301 https://youtu.be/OHjWb5XsAMI?t=301 (Nixon was considered the winner on this point)
fractallyte 6y ago
Maybe the inhabitants of those islands should have some say in their future? “We don’t want to be ruled by mainland China,” he said. “We have freedom, which is limited over there.” Edit: and to the person who just downvoted this, I invite you to explain why this statement is wrong? Downvotes are easy, justifying yourself - in front of a critical audience - is another story...
- yorwba 6y ago
  The inhabitants of those islands having a say in their own future is one thing. A Chinese sand dredger risking the boat getting impounded right outside their home port if they veer into waters patrolled by the Taiwanese coast guard is another. The article frames it as a deliberate attack, but it's not like the Chinese captains want to lose their source of income.
MikeUt 6y ago
> The mainland is less than 6 miles from Matsu. Taiwan is over 100 miles away. Since Matsu is part of Taiwan, that would make Taiwan zero miles away. Perhaps you meant Taipei, the capital?
- jimmydef 6y ago
  No, Matsu is part of the Fujian province of the Republic of China (RoC), not Taiwan province. The RoC controls only two provinces of China, Fujian and Taiwan province. The Fujian province is the only province of China where both the Republic of China(ROC) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) have split control. This is the byproduct of an unfinished civil war. Even their identity is different, most people living there don't consider themselves "Taiwanese" but citizens of the Republic of China. They would definitely not consider themselves part of "Taiwan". And given that the residents of Matsu islands (official name Lienchiang county) have never in its history voted for the DPP, the pro Taiwanese independence party, and have only voted for the KMT party and PFP, two parties who believe ROC IS China , it's unlikely most residents there would view Taiwan as a country in the first place. In case you claim I'm a Chinese shill (of which I'm not, I'm from Singapore), I would like to point out that even Taiwanese independence advocates in Taiwan also don't think that the Matsu islands, the Kinmen islands, Penghu islands, etc. are part of Taiwan. Many of them would like to abandon these islands to the PRC in the process of gaining taiwanese independence. Issues of identity in Taiwan is really not that clear cut as many outsiders would like it to be.
- Context_free 6y ago
  > Perhaps you meant Taipei, the capital? What is the name of the island Taipei is on?
  - MikeUt 6y ago
    Is the point you're trying to make that, because the country Taiwan and the island Taiwan share a name, parts of the country that lie on islands with different names are less legitimate? Otherwise I really don't see the relevance of pointing out that a part of the country Taiwan lies far from an island coincidentally also named Taiwan.

aaron695 6y ago

Video: https://youtu.be/OHjWb5XsAMI?t=301 https://youtu.be/OHjWb5XsAMI?t=301 (Nixon was considered the winner on this point)

fractallyte 6y ago

Maybe the inhabitants of those islands should have some say in their future? “We don’t want to be ruled by mainland China,” he said. “We have freedom, which is limited over there.” Edit: and to the person who just downvoted this, I invite you to explain why this statement is wrong? Downvotes are easy, justifying yourself - in front of a critical audience - is another story...

yorwba 6y ago
The inhabitants of those islands having a say in their own future is one thing. A Chinese sand dredger risking the boat getting impounded right outside their home port if they veer into waters patrolled by the Taiwanese coast guard is another. The article frames it as a deliberate attack, but it's not like the Chinese captains want to lose their source of income.

MikeUt 6y ago

> The mainland is less than 6 miles from Matsu. Taiwan is over 100 miles away. Since Matsu is part of Taiwan, that would make Taiwan zero miles away. Perhaps you meant Taipei, the capital?

jimmydef 6y ago
No, Matsu is part of the Fujian province of the Republic of China (RoC), not Taiwan province. The RoC controls only two provinces of China, Fujian and Taiwan province. The Fujian province is the only province of China where both the Republic of China(ROC) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) have split control. This is the byproduct of an unfinished civil war. Even their identity is different, most people living there don't consider themselves "Taiwanese" but citizens of the Republic of China. They would definitely not consider themselves part of "Taiwan". And given that the residents of Matsu islands (official name Lienchiang county) have never in its history voted for the DPP, the pro Taiwanese independence party, and have only voted for the KMT party and PFP, two parties who believe ROC IS China , it's unlikely most residents there would view Taiwan as a country in the first place. In case you claim I'm a Chinese shill (of which I'm not, I'm from Singapore), I would like to point out that even Taiwanese independence advocates in Taiwan also don't think that the Matsu islands, the Kinmen islands, Penghu islands, etc. are part of Taiwan. Many of them would like to abandon these islands to the PRC in the process of gaining taiwanese independence. Issues of identity in Taiwan is really not that clear cut as many outsiders would like it to be.
Context_free 6y ago
> Perhaps you meant Taipei, the capital? What is the name of the island Taipei is on?
- MikeUt 6y ago
  Is the point you're trying to make that, because the country Taiwan and the island Taiwan share a name, parts of the country that lie on islands with different names are less legitimate? Otherwise I really don't see the relevance of pointing out that a part of the country Taiwan lies far from an island coincidentally also named Taiwan.