Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) A television documentary to premiere Dec. 23 reveal the story of the Kinmen islands, the Taiwanese territory which is only two miles off the coast of China and whose history has been often forgotten or unknown, an official said Thursday.
"Given how many shells Kinmen has taken for Taiwan in the past, it's time for Taiwan and people around the world to better to understand the island, " said Yang Chung-chuan, deputy magistrate of Kinmen County, in a press conference to announce the premiere of "Unknown Kinmen, " a documentary produced by the Discovery Channel.
The documentary attempts to explore the islands, which have been described as the "Asian Gibraltar" because of its unique strategic position, through its culture, architecture and history, said Tommy Lin, vice president and general manager of Discovery Networks Asia's Taiwan Office.
Kinmen experienced extensive shelling from China in 1958, when it was hit by more than 470,000 artillery shells in the span of 44 days. Over the following 20 years, it was hit by another 500,000 non-lethal shells containing propaganda materials, Yang said.
The experience still lingers in the minds of senior citizens, but the former military preserve needs to move forward because development on Kinmen was extremely limited during the period of military rule, Yang said.
People in Kinmen did benefit somewhat from the war as nowadays it is famous for its knives, which are made from artillery shells, Yang said. The return to a civilian government in the 1990s and the launch of the Mini Three Links six years ago, which have brought many Taiwanese business people to the islands, dramatically changed the face of Kinmen's economy, he added.
"Now we thrive on the development of tourism, " he noted.