Army veteran Peng Chuan-yong (彭泉湧) never thought he would have to do his mandatory military service on Matsu.
Back in the 1960s and 1970s, young men across Taiwan drew lots to determine where they would be stationed. Tensions between Taiwan and China at that time made Matsu and other outlying islands the least desirable places to be sent, as personnel stationed on either Kinmen or Matsu were not allowed to return home regularly and were always on a high alert in case of an unexpected attack by China.
Peng, along with other young conscripts, arrived at Matsu’s Beigan Island (北竿島) in 1969 and became a member of the 51st division. Two months later, his division was ordered to start digging the Beihai Tunnel (北海坑道).
PHOTO: LEE WEN-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
For Peng, the project proved hazardous from beginning to end.
“Each day, about 100 soldiers would be dispatched to work on the tunnel. Some of them would use air compressors to drill holes in the granite. The construction had to continue day and night, and soldiers were required to take turns working,” he said.
Peng remembers that the air quality inside the tunnel was awful, but rather than facemasks, many soldiers simply used spare shirts to cover their nose and mouth.
“I was in charge of arranging the explosives to blast holes,” Peng said. “One of our deputy battalion commanders died while trying to determine whether any of the explosive devices hadn’t detonated.”
Serving with Peng in the 51st division, Chen Mu-kuei (陳木桂) also remembers the tunnel-digging project as being potentially lethal.
“One time, between 40 and 50 soldiers were crushed by falling rocks while eating lunch inside the tunnel … Those who died while drilling the tunnel were like ants, whose sacrifices seemed small and insignificant,” Chen said.
“Whenever I heard the steam whistle coming from the port, I became absent-minded and just wanted to go home,” he said. “Who would not want to go home?”
The tunnel was eventually opened in 1970.
The government also drilled large tunnels in Matsu’s Nangan Island (南竿島) and Dongyin Island (東引島), though these were still popularly know as Beihai Tunnels.
Retired major-general Lee Yung-kang (李永康) was a lieutenant in charge of drilling the Beihai Tunnel in Nangan.
“The tunnels were built to accommodate “ducks,” the name we gave for landing crafts.” Lee said. “There was really only one purpose behind the drilling of these tunnels: to reconquer the mainland.”
In Lee’s words, the construction process was simply “too ghastly to recall.”
“One time, 60 infantry soldiers went into the tunnel, but pretty soon 20 staggered out and received cardiotonic shots because they were on the verge of suffocating,” he said.
Lee said the tunnel-digging project was kept confidential during the martial law era. Nobody knew exactly how many people died, he said, adding that he left after the project was completed.
He returned to Matsu in 1991 and sought to find out if the tunnels still existed.
“I went to look out for the place myself. I went there on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar, when there happened to be a low tide. I saw the tunnel, which looked good as new,” Lee said.
Lee later informed Matsu’s commander-in-chief as well as former Lienchiang County commissioner Liu Li-chun (劉立群) about the tunnels.
Liu had the tunnels remodeled and turned into tourist attractions. The Lienchiang County Government has since hosted several events, including kayaking and canoeing in the tunnels.
Tunnel 88, an abandoned military tunnel, is now a wine cellar for Matsu’s aged rice wine (馬祖老酒) and Kaoliang.
The tunnels, one whose walls patriotic slogans are still visible, outdoor spaces and seaports are now marketed as part of the unique Matsu experience.
As a result, an island that used to be a mysterious and restricted zone has been transformed into one of the nation’s most interesting scenic spots.
“The only thing preventing tourists from coming to Matsu is transportation,” Lee said. “It is not an easy place to reach.”
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS