TAIWAN: QUEMOY: DPP VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FRANK HSIEH TOUR

Описание: (2 Mar 1996) Mandarin/Nat

Taiwan's first fully free presidential elections take place in under a month.

China has said it will react with force towards any move to independence. Already some 150,000 troops are on China's coast for military exercises.

A possible target is the island of Quemoy - just 2 kilometres from China. Taiwan's only pro-independence party, the DPP has been campaigning there Friday and Saturday.

At first sight Quemoy is a peaceful island. But lying just two kilometres from China it is at the forefront of Taiwan's defences.

Democratic Progressive Party vice-presidential candidate Frank Hsieh toured the island this weekend, in search of locals ready for to vote for open independence from Mainland China.

The DPP platform is the only one to advocate independence and the subject is a sensitive one.

With less than a month to go before Taiwan's first fully free presidential elections - already some 150,000 troops are gathered on China's coastline for military exercises.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that should be retaken by force if necessary and the exercises are seen as an attempt to influence Taiwan's voters.

Quemoy still bears the scars of earlier conflicts, this building stands as a memorial to the dead. China has launched three attacks against the island.

In 1949, Chinese troops were repelled and in 1954 and 1958 the island was heavily shelled.

The bombardment lasted for over forty days, resulting in some 600 deaths. Older islanders have become immune to the constant tension.

SOUNDBITE (Mandarin): " They bombarded us for around 42 to 43 days during the August 23rd battles, after all that, we are less afraid. When the battles happened back in those years, we were all afraid but now we are used to hearing the sound of gunfire and bombs. SUPERCAPTION: Chin Chun, 74 years old retired farmer.

The island is a fortress, with some 30,000 soldiers to a civilian population of around 50,000. Anti parachutist poles and fortified defences are everywhere.

Many locals want nothing to do with the DPP's call for independence. They are afraid of the result - not just Chinese sabre-rattling but all out war.

VOXPOP (Mandarin):Residents in Kinmen(Quemoy) want unification and peace,
hat is our goal, peace.
SUPERCAPTION: Local resident.

VOXPOP (Mandarin): If the two sides unify, china will be the best in the world, ahead of other countries. So that is why I disagree with independence for Taiwan.
SUPERCAPTION: Local resident.

Many islanders do not publicly fear a war, but privately many are afraid that, given the current state of tension across the Taiwan straits, they will be the first to suffer if the political skirmishing goes to far.

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