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Kinmen to remove anti-landing barricades for cross-strait swim

ROC Central News Agency

2009/03/29 18:25:05

Kinmen, March 29 (CNA) The local government of Taiwan's outlying island of Kinmen will remove spear-like anti-landing barricades from a beach of Hsiao-chin-men (Little Kinmen) -- a smaller islet west of Kinmen -- to facilitate an upcoming mass cross Taiwan Strait swimming event slated for August.

Kinmen Magistrate Lee Chu-feng said the devices - aimed at obstructing landing crafts, were built in shallow waters of the beach during the Cold War era before the middle of the 20th century. They were designed to prevent an invasion by military vessels from mainland China.

The barricades will be removed from Little Kinmen's Shuangkou Beach and destroyed so as to provide a safe beach for swimmers taking part in the first cross-strait mass swim slated to take place between Little Kinmen and Fujian Provinces's port city of Xiamen in southeastern China on Aug. 1.

Those anti-landing barricades were historical military fortifications. The Kinmen county government plans to remove them because they have lost their effect now since no war has occurred across the strait since 1958.

The ROC's military deployment in Kinmen has continued to shrink; today there are reportedly no more than 10,000 troops in Kinmen, compared to some 100,000 two decades ago.

Lee envisaged the historic Kinmen-Xiamen mass swim as not only a sports event but also a major activity promoting cross-Strait exchanges since tensions between Taiwan and China have noticeably eased after President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May 2008.

China still considers Taiwan a province awaiting reunification despite the island being ruled separately since the end of a Chinese civil war in 1949.

The Kinmen magistrate made the remarks while playing host to visiting Xiamen Mayor Liu Ciguei, who traveled to Kinmen Sunday on a fact-finding tour.

Liu expressed welcome to Kinmen government's plan to have the beachhead barricades removed, saying that "it's a good start."

According to Kinmen government officials, the county government has obtained approval from the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council to prepare for the historic Kinmen-Xiamen mass swim.

A total of 100 professional swimmers and celebrities from the sports sectors from the two sides will be invited to take part in the swim, which will be a 5,800-meter challenge starting from Xiamen's Yefengzhai Beach on Huandao Road and finishing on Little Kinmen's Shuangkou Beach, Kinmen county officials said.

(By Deborah Kuo)

ENDITEM/cs