A swim from Xiamen, China, to Kinmen County was held yesterday as a gesture of peace.
“The fact that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are able to hold such an event after six decades of hostility signifies that Taiwan and the mainland are striding towards peace,” said Kinmen County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽), one of the organizers of the event.
Nearly 100 swimmers — 48 from Taiwan and 49 from China — crossed from Xiamen in Fujian Province to Kinmen.
PHOTO: AP
A sign that read “Unifying China with One Country, Two Systems” stood in Xiamen as swimmers set out to sea.
Lee greeted the swimmers on shore at Shuangkou (雙口) on Kinmen, once a military zone. The event was co-hosted by the Xiamen City Government.
Li Yenhan (李寅翰), a member of the Tianjin Swimming Center in China, was the first to complete the 7.1km swim, finishing in one hour and 10 minutes.
“It was nothing difficult,” the 22-year-old said. “There were some rough currents somewhere near Binlan islet, but after that, it was a smooth course.”
Lee said the event was not a competition.
“This is an event to increase friendly exchanges and peaceful cooperation between the two sides,” he said.
Kinmen was once a war zone between China and Taiwan. In August 1958, the Chinese military dropped more than 470,000 shells on Kinmen in 44 days, killing 618 servicemen and civilians.
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