For this session, Alexandre Gandil will present a reading of the principal geopolitical and symbolic stakes associated with the Kinmen archipelago, a Taiwanese territory located just off the coast of mainland China. A legacy of the Chinese Civil War, long militarised and subsequently marginalised, Kinmen today stands at the centre of renewed strategic projections. This talk invites us to reconsider the Sino-Taiwanese question through the lens of this singular frontier, and to reflect on the complex interrelations between territory, state, and nation in the Sinophone world.

Book abstract :

A vestige of both the Chinese Civil War (1946–1950) and the Cold War, the Kinmen (Quemoy) archipelago lies just a few kilometres off the coast of the People’s Republic of China, facing the mainland province of Fujian. And yet, the flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan) still flies over these islands.

In 1949, during his retreat to Taipei, Chiang Kai-shek managed to hold the Nationalist army on this cluster of coastal islands across the Taiwan Strait from the main island of Taiwan—an occupation that twice brought the world to the brink of nuclear war during the 1950s. Briefly the focus of international attention, Kinmen—an archipelago no larger than Liechtenstein, inhabited by only a few tens of thousands—soon faded from view. That is, until the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 revived interest in Kinmen, albeit through often inapt comparisons, casting it anew as a locus of concern and curiosity.

Beyond the prism of past or future military confrontation, however, Kinmen invites us to decentre our gaze on China and Taiwan. Straddling both sides of the Taiwan Strait, beyond the so-called median line, this small archipelago—wrenched from the continent in the mid-twentieth century—has since posed enduring challenges to historical, political, and geographical understandings of state and nation formation in the Sinophone world, with lessons that resonate well beyond the region.

This book is essential reading for those seeking to grasp the dynamics of the Sino-Taiwanese question and the threats it poses to global peace in these precarious times, as well as for anyone interested in reassessing the relationship between state and nation from a comparative perspective.

The question, “Will China invade Taiwan?” is frequently raised. While China continues to advocate for its “peaceful unification” policy, it simultaneously strengthens its nuclear capabilities to deter U.S. intervention and bolsters its conventional military forces in preparation for a potential occupation of Taiwan. Furthermore, the “peaceful unification” policy has historically encompassed the potential use of force.

What underpins China’s policy toward Taiwan? By thoroughly analyzing China’s approach, we can gain insights into the future trajectory of relations between mainland China and Taiwan.

Huang Jen-An was born in 1942, and was graduated from the Department of Law of National Taiwan University in 1964. He went to Japan in 1967 and entered the Graduate School of Law of Kobe University the following year, specializing in the study of international regulations related to container transportation.

After completing his studies in Japan, he returned to Taiwan in 1970. Soon he joined the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and was engaged in shipping and container planning. He later resigned from public office and started his own business-CTW Logistics Corporation in 1974.

 Conceived with the notion of “Thank for the love from parents and give back to all in the local community,” Mr. Huang donated to establish the CTW Culture and Education Foundation in 1998. Over the past 25 years, the foundation has sought to advocate social charity in education and culture, environmental protection and industrial development in conjunction with government resources with a focus on local residents, social groups, environment and industry. It also translates the ideal into concrete and incremental actions to materialize the corporate philosophy of CTW Logistics in “Give back to society, Give back to the Earth.”In the future, the foundation will align with social change to further commit its resources to social charity in the aspects of culture and education in diversity.

The Western Zhou dynasty (1045 to 771 BC) is considered a golden age in Chinese historiography. Confucius, in particular, made many references to this period, mentioning Kings Wen and Wu, the founders of the dynasty, as well as the Duke of Zhou, King Wu’s brother. Thanks to his virtue, King Wen is said to have received the Mandate of Heaven, the right to rule. As for King Wu, he overthrew the Shang dynasty and formally established the dynasty. After his death, the Duke of Zhou acted as regent to King Wu’s heir, King Cheng, and was from then on regarded as the person who had enabled the consolidation of dynastic power. The figure of King Cheng, who reigned for several decades, remains somewhat less prominent. My research aims to show how King Cheng was evoked as a historical figure in ancient sources, especially from the time of his reign up to the Han dynasty (2nd century BCE-2nd century CE), in different ways depending on the context in which these sources were produced. My study aims to reassess the significance of King Cheng’s reign in the memory of ancient China.

This book, based on extensive original research, explores the lives, the migratory experiences and the social, economic, and emotional practices of Chinese migrant women during their migrations and mobilities in China, from China to Taiwan, from Taiwan to China and in between the two countries. It illustrates how women on the move experience social contempt, misrecognition and economic marginalisation; how women migrants seek autonomy, economic independence, upward social mobility and modernity, but discover the Chinese inegalitarian social order and labour regimes which produce obstacles and impede their ambitions; and how old and new forms of subalternity are reproduced. Overall, the book emphasises what it feels like for the women migrants as they negotiate their way at the crossroad between subalternity and resistance, between subordinated labour and independent, digital entrepreneurship, and between an inegalitarian labour market and new, online opportunities for business and commerce.