The Ministry of National Defense (MND) has formally informed the Kinmen County government that the military has no plans to establish a missile base on the island.
The information was provided after the county government raised concerns about such a possibility following media reports ahead of the January legislative elections that the government was building a missile base on Matsu.
During the legislative election campaign, Kinmen County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽) of the New Party expressed his support for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Wu Cheng-tien (吳成典) because of his strong opposition to establishing a missile base there.
In the letter, the ministry said the military’s long-term combat readiness plans did not, at this stage, include the building of a missile base on Kinmen.
Kinmen County Council Speaker Hsieh Yi-chang (謝宜璋) welcomed the ministry’s letter and said Kinmen’s suffering during previous artillery battles had convinced its population to desire peace.
“People in Kinmen do not want to see their land turn into a battleground over the establishment of a missile base. Never again,” he said.
Since the launch of the “small three links” in early 2001, Hsieh said, Kinmen has become a bridge for exchanged across the Taiwan Strait.
The people of Kinmen, he said, “hope to continue in this role, with the horrors of war nothing but a distant memory.”
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