Citations:Matsu

English citations of Matsu

Taiwan (ROC)

Island Group

MATSU NANGAN AIRPORT

• 1959, Sampson C. Shen, editor, China Yearbook 1958-1959‎^[1], Taipei, Taiwan: China Publishing Co., page 99:

  Matsu Islands
  Like the Kinmens, the Matsu Islands are part of Fukien Province. A political affairs commission is the administrative organ, supported by the Lienkiang Hsien Government. They form the northern anchor of the offshore defense line and seal the mouth of the Min River.

• 1963, Dwight Eisenhower, Mandate for Change 1953-1956‎^[2], Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 461:

  The nineteen rocky, treeless Matsus, covering twelve square miles, blocked the port of Foochow on the Chinese mainland, just ten miles away, while the Quemoys, covering sixty square miles of land which supported several thousand farmers and fishermen, blocked the port of Amoy, only two miles away.

• 1964 May 22, Ralph N. Clough, “Letter From the Charge to the Republic of China (Clough) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Bundy)”, in Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State‎^[3]:

  The Chinese Communist shelling of Matsu on May 16, which clearly seems to have been a reaction to GRC artillery fire from Matsu covering a raiding party launched from Matsu against Lienchiang (FCT 8622), caused me to give consideration to repeating to the GRC the warning we gave them last spring that they should not assume the US would assist the GRC should the Chicoms attack the smaller offshore islands in retaliation for raids mounted by the GRC from such islands.

• 1997, Dale Brown, Fatal Terrain‎^[4] (Fiction), HarperCollinsPublishers, →ISBN, page 348:

  'As best as we can figure without talking to President Lee,' Freeman said, 'Taiwan wanted to knock that carrier out of commission, then cripple Lang-Ch'i Army Base, which is the main staging point for China's invasion force for the Matsu Island chain.'

• 2015, Hu Meidong, Lin Shujuan, “Further options open for Straits travel”, in China Daily‎^[5]:

  A passenger ferry route between Huangqi in Fujian province and Matsu in Taiwan has allowed tourists and commuters a cheaper and faster choice for cross-Straits travel.
  Huangqi, a port under the administration of the capital Fuzhou, is the closest mainland port to Matsu, which has also been connected with Mawei port in Fuzhou since 2001. A direct passenger ferry trip along the latter route takes around 90 minutes.
  Each trip along the Huangqi-Matsu route, which crosses an 8-kilometer strip of sea, takes 25 minutes and costs 135 yuan ($21).
  "The Huangqi-Matsu route has made daily commuting between Lianjiang and Matsu much easier," said Yang Wenjian, head of Lianjiang-Matsu Cultural Research Society, an NGO dedicated to promoting civil exchanges between the two places.

• 2019, George Liao, “Taiwan’s Matsu offers tourists free kayaking activities”, in Taiwan News‎^[6]:

  The athletic association is promoting the sport of kayaking in an effort to help Beigan Township develop coastal and maritime tourism by hiring Taiwan Kayak Association professionals to provide tourists free coaching on how to maneuver a kayak and enable themselves to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Matsu from the sea, according to Matsu Daily (馬祖日報).

• 2020 September 21, Ben Blanchard and Martin Quin Pollard, “Taiwan's race to save endangered plant species”, in ABC News‎^[7]:

  In the forests and on remote offshore islands of Taiwan, a group of conservationists are racing to collect as many rare plant species as they can before they are lost to climate change and human encroachment.
  Overseen by the Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Centre, the plant hunters are scouring sub-tropical Taiwan for as many rare plant samples as they can find, from the rugged eastern coast around Taitung to Dongyin, in the Matsu archipelago.

• 2022 February 11, Minnie Chen, “Was it Beijing testing Taiwan’s defences with unidentified Matsu island flyover?”, in South China Morning Post‎^[8], archived from the original on 11 February 2022, China Military:

  Residents of Tungyin, a frontline islet under Taiwan’s Matsu islands cluster, said they spotted an unidentified aircraft flying overhead at 2.45pm on February 5, while video footage from the watchtower monitor showed an aircraft crossing the skies and flying out towards the east. […]
  “In 1996, Beijing included Tungyin as one of its 49 territorial island bases, and Taipei announced its territorial sea base points in 1999 to exclude the Quemoy and Matsu islands for the first time,” Lu explained.

• 2022 February 17, “Chinese anti-sub helicopter enters Taiwan ADIZ for first time”, in Radio Free Asia‎^[9], archived from the original on 18 February 2022:

  Dongyin is part of the Matsu archipelago, 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of China’s Fujian province. The Matsu islands have been under Taiwan’s control since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

• 2022 March 24, Sarah Wu, “Ukraine war reverberates on Taiwan's 'frontline of democracy'”, in Gerry Doyle, editor, Reuters‎^[10], archived from the original on 10 May 2022, 公司新闻(英文):

  The Matsu islands were regularly bombarded by China at the height of the Cold War, and the history of conflict has focused minds on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and whether the same fate may befall them.[...]
  Held by Taiwan since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taipei in 1949 after losing the Chinese civil war, Matsu would probably be an immediate target for Beijing in a conflict, especially Dongyin’s missile base.

Island

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ME «	15th c.	16th c.	17th c.	18th c.	19th c.	20th c.	21st c.

• 1902 March, C. H. Verner, “How We Fetched Help for the "Hangchow.": A Terrible Experience in the China Seas”, in The Wide World Magazine‎^[11], volume VIII, number 48, London: George Newnes Ltd, →OCLC, pages 556-557:

  About seven o'clock I sighted land right ahead, and as we got closer I made this out to be Spider Island. This relieved me greatly, for I knew then that my compass was fairly correct and we were on exactly the right course for Matsu Island, whither I inteded to go to get a Foochow pilot, as I had not a chart of the bar, and had never been over it before. […]
  Upon leaving the steamer I set all the sail I possibly could, and made the best of my way before a very strong breeze towards Matsu Island.

• 1945 December, United States Hydrographic Office, Gazetteer: China Coast‎^[12], volume 895, number 15, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 169, column 1:

  Name Designation Lat. N. Long. E. Code […]
  Matsu Island 26 10 119 56 eq
  Nan Kantang eq
  Nan-Kan-Tang CH
  Ma-tsu Shan eg […]
  Ma-tsu Shan-see Matsu eg

• 1949 December 30, “Red Attacks Fail, Chinese Say”, in Associated Press‎^[13], pages [14]:

  Chinese Communist attempts to land on two islands of Nationalist retreat off the mainland have been smashed, Government reports said today.
  The most determined Red attempt was against Matsu Island off China's east coast, about 100 miles northwest of the Nationalist island stronghold of Formosa, the official Central News Agency said. […]
  Central News said several thousand Communist troops landed on Matsu Christmas night from a nearby island and were repulsed with heavy casualties.
  Nationalist military sources said Matsu is being reinforced against another Red attack expected at any moment.

• 1951 June 22, “Chinese Communist Military Activities, East China”, in CIA‎^[15], page 3:

  19. On the evening of 11 June, Nationalist warships YUNG CH'UN (永春) and CHENG AN (正安) and the Nationalist gunboat HAI LI (海利) engaged in battle with 2 Chinese Communist converted 200-ton gunboats, and a 1,400-ton armored motor junk in the Huangch'iwan (黄岐湾) area, approximately 10 miles northwest of Matsu Island. The Nationalist warships had pursued the Chinese Communist vessels from the mouth of the Min River. The HAI LI joined the battle in the Huangch'iwan area. The Chinese Communist motor junk was destroyed and the gunboats were damaged. The coastal defense positions of the Chinese Communist Seacoast Defense Battalion (sic) with a total of 7 guns along Huangch'iwan were partially destroyed by the HAI LI when the battalion's guns fired on Nationalist vessels during the battle.

• 1960, 55:49 from the start, in OCTOBER 7, 1960 Presidential Candidates Debate‎^[16], US Vice President Richard M. Nixon (actor), C-SPAN:

  Now I think as far as Quemoy and Matsu are concerned, that the question is not these two little pieces of real estate- they are unimportant. It isn't the few people who live on them- they are not too important. It's the principle involved. These two islands are in the area of freedom. The Nationalists have these two islands. We should not force our Nationalist allies to get off of them and give them to the Communists. If we do that, we start a chain reaction, because the Communists aren't after Quemoy and Matsu, they're after Formosa. In my opinion, this is the same kind of woolly thinking that lead to disaster for America in Korea, I'm against it, I would never tolerate it as President of the United States, and I will hope that Senator Kennedy will change his mind if he should be elected.

• 1977 December 18, “Record crab catch for Matsu fisherman”, in Free China Weekly‎^[17], volume XVIII, number 50, Taipei, page 4:

  A fisherman on the offshore island of Matsu caught more than 35,000 kilograms of sea crabs Dec. 13, breaking a record for one day which has stood for 10 years, military sources said.
  . . .
  Crabs are currently in season at Matsu, a few miles off shore from the Chinese Communist-held mainland and were previously being sold at NT$10 (about US$0.26) per kilogram.
  A spokesman for the Matsu Defense Command said Wang's surprise catch helped to bring the price down to NT$8 per kilogram. Even so, Wang made some NT$28,000 (US$778) on his boatload.

• 1978, Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon‎^[18], Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 271:

  I also hammered hard on Kennedy's shortsighted unwillingness to defend the offshore islands of Quemoy and Matsu, occupied by Chiang Kai-shek's forces.

• 1996, Patrick Tyler, “China Warns U.S. to Keep Away From Taiwan Strait”, in New York Times‎^[19]:

  For the new round of Chinese war games beginning on Monday, China has declared a large part of the Taiwan Strait as a military exercise area and has warned international shipping and aviation to stay away. The prospect of the exercises prompted about 300 Taiwan citizens to leave small islands around Matsu, the strategic bastion off the Chinese port of Fuzhou that was to serve as the Nationalists' staging area to retake the mainland.
  "We are leaving for Taiwan to escape disaster," said a schoolgirl from the island of Tong Chu, near Matsu and just 10 nautical miles away from the area of the Chinese war games. Taiwan television stations carried film of the mini-evacuation, but also noted that a number of residents were choosing to stay in their homes.

• 1996 March 15, Michael Evans, “China offensive cannot be ruled out, experts say”, in The Times‎^[20], number 65,528, →ISSN, →OCLC, Overseas News, page 14, column 3:

  The sources said the Chinese would not risk attempting an amphibious landing on one of the heavily fortified islands, in particular Quemoy, which is guarded by 40,000 Taiwanese troops, or Matsu, which has a defence force of 9,000. Two other islands, however, Wuchiu and Tungyin, are less heavily defended and may pose an easier target, the sources said.

• 2011, Henry Kissinger, On China‎^[21], New York: Penguin Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 153:

  At the closest point, Quemoy was roughly two miles from the major Chinese port city of Xiamen; Matsu was similarly close to the city of Fuzhou.

• 2012, 42:09 from the start, in Listening In: JFK's Secret Tapes‎^[22], Thomas Oliphant (actor), John F. Kennedy Library Foundation:

  I should add a story, you know in the South at that time, Governor Barnett was sort of known as a bit of a dim bulb. And two years before, during the presidential campaign, one of the flashpoints in the debates that fall involved two Nationalist Chinese islands just off the coast of China: Quemoy and Matsu. And right after this argument erupted in the campaign, Ross Barnett was out politicking one day and the reporters asked him, "Governor, what about Quemoy and Matsu?" And he looked around sort of lost and said to one of his aides, "Them those two fellers I put on the Fishing and Game Commission last year?"

• 2019 May 18, “New passenger route links Mawei in Fujian with Matsu island”, in Mu Xuequan, editor, Xinhua News Agency‎^[23], archived from the original on 05 October 2020:

  The new port on the Chinese mainland side, which is located in Langqi island, Mawei District, is 23 nautical miles off Matsu island, reducing the original journey by 40 minutes.

Strait

• 1945 December, United States Hydrographic Office, Gazetteer: China Coast‎^[24], volume 895, number 15, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 169, column 1:

  Name Designation Lat. N. Long. E. Code […]
  Ma-tsu Hai-hsia-see Matsu Strait […]
  Matsu Strait Strait 26 11 119 58 je
  Ma-tsu Hai-hsia eg

• 1962, DeWitt S. Copp, “The Mudcats”, in The Odd Day‎^[25], William Morrow and Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 60:

  The one landing strip in the Matsus, and good for light aircraft only, was on the second largest island, Peikan. Between Nankan and Peikan lay the Matsu Straits, a twisted riptide-torn channel, boasting freak winds and bouldered shores.

Goddess

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ME «	15th c.	16th c.	17th c.	18th c.	19th c.	20th c.	21st c.

• 1982 April 18, “Old festivals endure amid modern progress”, in Free China Weekly‎^[26], volume XXII, number 15, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2:

  Groups of schoolboys neatly dressed in white shorts and yellow cravats, a truck load of maidens in pink and green, another long silk banner and another carriage...it seems as if there are dozens of Matsus, each one accompanied by her retinue of standard bearers, musicians and heralds.

• 1996 March 15, Jonathan Mirsky, “Taiwan President visits islanders to bolster morale”, in The Times‎^[27], number 65,528, →ISSN, →OCLC, Overseas News, page 15, column 1:

  Mr Lee descended on Penghu, one of the Pescadores, with a population of 90,000, in the afternoon, immediately after military jets had buzzed the airstrip to ensure his safety. Penghu lies in the middle of the Taiwan Strait.
  Addressing a large rally, he compared himself to the native goddess Matsu, who gave her life for others. "Your President should love and protect the people like her," he said. "Matsu will not abandon Penghu, and I will not either."

• 2000, Shui-Bian Chen, “Learning and Transformation”, in David J. Toman, transl., The Son of Taiwan: The Life of Chen Shui-Bian and His Dreams for Taiwan‎^[28], Taiwan Publishing Co., Ltd., →ISBN, →OCLC, page 40:

  I often think of Matsu, a figure in Taiwanese folk religions, who it is said guided the first Chinese settlers of Taiwan through the brutal seas at night and came to their rescue. With a benevolent heart, Matsu is like a mother.
  The two gods who accompany Matsu, one with eyes that can see 1000 li⁶ and the other with ears that can hear far over the horizon, represent empathy, observation, and feeling. Government should be like Matsu, equipped with acute powers of observation; see clearly to the bottom of issues, and know how to respond.
  There is a hierarchy among Matsu and her attendant gods, but they divide labor according to their strengths and work together in a truly perfect "partnership."

• 2008 February 29, Jianwei He, “An etude to the island coast”, in Beijing Today‎^[29], number 352, →ISSN, →OCLC, Travel China, page 21, columns 1, 2:

  Matsu's temple in Miaoli
  [...]Dong saw a statue of the fishermen’s deity Matsu as it makes an annual pilgrimage through the western seaboard counties.
  Matsu, goddess of the sea, protector of seafarers, and Taiwan’s preeminent folk deity, will be going on tour at the end of the third Chinese lunar month, as she does every year.
  Peishatun Matsu, who resides at the Gungtien Temple in Tunghsiao, Miaoli County, has the longest pilgrimage route.
  According to one version of the legend, Matsu saved her father, brother and a number of fishermen from drowning while she physically remained at home.

• 2019 April 17, “'Sea goddess' backs Foxconn chief's bid for Taiwan president”, in France 24‎^[30], archived from the original on 17 April 2019:

  While visiting a temple of the sea goddess Matsu in New Taipei city, Gou said the goddess "told me to step forward ... to help the people."
  "The 2020 election is very important. Should I step forward or not? Matsu spoke to me in dreams a few days ago and today that ... (I) should look after people who are suffering, give young people hope and maintain cross-strait peace," Gou, head of major Apple supplier Foxconn, told reporters.