Taiwan's front line with China gets ready to vote
As Taiwan's presidential election approaches, the frontline island of Kinmen finds itself at a critical crossroads. Voters on the island, a symbolically-important constituency, are grappling with the impact of their vote on relations with Beijing, and the future of the island. - REUTERS
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00:00 Most of Taiwan lies around 100 miles from mainland China.
00:05 The island of Kinmen, however, is only a short ferry ride away.
00:10 Tanks and barricades face the skyscrapers of the Chinese city of Xiamen on the horizon.
00:15 Kinmen is seen in Taiwan as its furthest outpost of democracy, as well as a symbolically important
00:21 constituency which attracts visits from the leadership of all of Taiwan's major political
00:26 parties.
00:27 As those campaign efforts pick up ahead of Taiwan's presidential election this week,
00:32 residents of the island, which relies heavily on spending by Chinese tourists, are wondering
00:37 how their vote will impact relations with Beijing, and in turn, the future of Kinmen.
00:43 Kang Bigwan is the third-generation owner of a stall that sells fish balls, a common
00:48 street food snack.
00:49 "We hope that during the upcoming elections, the Taiwanese government will consider future
00:56 developments of Kinmen.
00:58 We need a stream of people to have a stream of money.
01:01 Otherwise, for us vendors, including the next generation, we can foresee a lot of hardships."
01:09 Taiwan has controlled Kinmen since 1949, when the defeated Republic of China government
01:14 fled to Taipei after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists.
01:19 Bombarded by hundreds of thousands of shells over decades, the frontline island earned
01:24 a reputation as the protector of Taiwan.
01:27 However, over the years, both sides of the water that divides it from mainland China
01:32 have enjoyed close economic ties.
01:34 Many families have relatives in both places.
01:37 The establishment of a 30-minute ferry service in the early 2000s transformed the island
01:42 into a popular shopping destination for Chinese tourists.
01:45 Now, both Beijing and Taiwanese opposition party candidates are calling for a bridge
01:50 between Xiamen and Kinmen, which has divided opinion on the island.
01:55 "All Chinese share the same roots, so a lot of their life habits and much more are very
02:01 similar.
02:02 So if we could have a bridge to create a link, just like the bridge between Hong Kong, Zhuhai
02:06 and Macau, to become a link for communication between the two sides, we would be able to
02:11 become an even closer community in our daily lives."
02:15 While the majority on the island support closer ties, a growing subset of young residents
02:20 identify more as Taiwanese than Chinese.
02:23 They want a democratic Kinmen that embraces its own culture and relies less on China.
02:29 Coffee roastery owner Yuan Zhangjia is one of them.
02:32 "My dream is to use my coffee to bring some of Kinmen's culture and specialties to the
02:38 world.
02:39 I think we can create a Kinmen coffee brand so that people can learn more about Kinmen.
02:45 We can indeed move our market to Southeast Asia, Europe and the U.S., meaning Taiwan's
02:50 market will not only be in China.
02:52 Taiwan should look to the whole world and not only focus on China."
02:58 In the run-up to the January 13th election, billboards for Taiwan's ruling DPP party and
03:03 opposition Kuomintang party alike have sprung up around Kinmen.
03:08 But for some, like bookstore owner Wang Yuwen, voting along party lines matters less than
03:14 a candidate's vision for the island's future.
03:17 "If the Communist Party wants to attack you, they will not care if you are the KMT or the
03:23 DPP.
03:24 This is how I see it.
03:26 So based on this, I tend to vote for the candidate of a party that does not want to get closer
03:31 with China.
03:32 But if today the party that doesn't propose closer ties with China puts forward a candidate
03:37 without their own ideas, values or blueprint for the future, then I might gravitate towards
03:42 not voting at all."
03:44 (speaking in foreign language)