Wuqiu (Kinmen)
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Wuqiu 烏坵 |
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| State : |
 Republic of China (Taiwan)
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| County : | Kinmen | ||
| Coordinates : | 24 ° 59 ′ N , 119 ° 27 ′ E | ||
| Area : | 1.2000 km² | ||
| Residents : | 689 (March 2018) | ||
| Population density : | 574 inhabitants per km² | ||
| Time zone : | UTC + 8 (Chungyuan time) | ||
| Telephone code : | (+886) (0) 826 | ||
| Postal code : | 896 | ||
| ISO 3166-2 : | TW-KIN | ||
| Community type : | Rural community ( 鄉 ) | ||
| Structure : | 2 villages ( 村 ) | ||
| Website : | |||
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Wuqiu or Wuchiou ( Chinese 烏坵 , Pinyin Wūqiū ) is a small group of islands in the Formosa Strait , which essentially consists of two main islands, Daqiu ( 大 坵 嶼 , Dàqiū yǔ - "Great Qiu") and Xiaoqiu ( 小坵 嶼 , Xiǎoqiū yǔ - "Little Qiu"), which together cover an area of 1.2 square kilometers. Administratively belongs to Wuqiu County Kinmen the Republic of China (Taiwan) .
Location and geography
Wuqiu is located on the western Formosa Strait off the coast of the Chinese province of Fujian . The distance to the Chinese mainland in an approximately northwestern direction is almost 26 kilometers and to the north-northeastern Chinese Nanri Island about 20 kilometers. Kinmen Island, on the other hand, is approximately 115 kilometers as the crow flies and the distance to Taiwan on the other side of Formosa Strait is 133 kilometers (to Taichung ). This makes Wuqiu the most geographically isolated community in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Due to its remote location, the municipality forms its own telephone area code - number range .
Administratively, Wuqiu is divided into the two villages ( 村 , Cūn ) Daqiu ( 大 坵 村 - "Large Qiu Village") and Xiaoqiu ( 小坵 村 - "Small Qiu Village"), which are also the main islands. Almost 700 inhabitants are registered on the islands, but only about 40 people, most of whom are 60 years and older, live there permanently. The remaining residents are temporarily stationed there from the military or government employees.
history
Before 1949, Wuqiu was part of the former Putian County of Fujian Province. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in mainland China in 1949, the archipelago remained under the control of the Republic of China. In 1954, Wuqiu was provisionally subordinate to the neighboring Kinmen County, which had also remained with the Republic of China. This temporary solution has since become a quasi-permanent state. In the 1950s, Wuqiu came under direct military administration and remained there until martial law was repealed on November 7, 1992.
On May 21, 2012, the Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs announced that two locations had been shortlisted as possible locations for a repository to be built for low-level radioactive waste that had previously been temporarily stored on the island of Lanyu : on the one hand, the sparsely populated community of Daren on the east coast of Taiwan and on the other hand Wuqiu. The decision on the final establishment should be made in two referendums in the two municipalities in June 2013. Against this resistance arose from the population of Wuqius. Kinmen County Council and Kinmen leaders stressed that no decision should be taken against the will of the local population. Ultimately, these plans did not materialize.
Transport and economy
The only regular transport links to the islands are the military transport ships, which regularly run every 14 days between Wuqiu and Taichung. There is no direct boat connection to Kinmen. Medical care for the inhabitants is a problem. There are no fresh water sources on the islands. The fresh water requirement is covered by reverse osmosis from seawater, from treated rainwater and through imports. The energy demand is mainly covered by diesel generators. Tourism has hardly developed so far. The traditional livelihood was fishing, although it declined significantly during the period of military confrontation in the 1950s to 1980s.
Attractions
There is a lighthouse on the island, which was built in 1874, still during the Qing Dynasty, according to plans by a British engineer. It was decommissioned in the early 1950s and has been restored with government funds since 2016. It resumed operations on July 23, 2017. The background to the restoration was less the needs of shipping than considerations for promoting tourism.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 地理位置 ("Location"). Wuqiu website, accessed May 26, 2018 (Chinese).
- ↑ 地理 環境 ("Geographical Environment"). Retrieved May 26, 2018 (Chinese).
- ↑ a b c 單位 願景 ("vision of unity"). Wuqiu website, accessed May 26, 2018 (Chinese).
- ^ Kinmen awareness. Kinmen County, November 16, 2015, accessed January 20, 2018 .
- ^ From Battleground to Bridge. Taiwan Today, March 1, 2008, accessed May 26, 2018 .
- ↑ Referendums to decide Taiwan's nuclear waste storage site. Taiwan Today, May 22, 2012, accessed May 25, 2018 .
- ↑ Wuqiu Island Lighthouse: A Woman's Battlefield in Life 一個 女人 的 生命 戰場 - 烏坵 燈塔. Center for Taiwan Studies, University of London, November 16, 2017, accessed May 25, 2018 .
- ^ Wuqiu Lighthouse resumes service after 6 decades in Kinmen. Taiwan News, July 25, 2017, accessed May 25, 2018 .
- ↑ Wang Shu-fen, Evelyn Kao: Century-old Kinmen lighthouse shines again. Focus Taiwan, July 23, 2017, accessed May 25, 2018 .