Kinmen, once a war zone of cannon fumes and boot stomping, is now a popular tourist spot. But only ten years ago, when martial laws had already... More

Kinmen, once a war zone of cannon fumes and boot stomping, is now a popular tourist spot. But only ten years ago, when martial laws had already been lifted in the Taiwan main island for three years, the people Kinmen could not travel freely to their homeland. They had to go through the Bureau of Immigration Ministry to obtain the Kinmen Area Transit Visa, travel all the way to the Kao Hsiung Harbor to board small boats that would take them more than twelve hours to get home. As for people who were not from Kinmen, they didn't have to bother thinking about visiting the war zone. Chen Cheng Chien(陳振堅), 26 at the time, was forbade from returning to Kinmen for three years because he had participated in many Kinmen-Matsu Democratic Movement, including demonstrating at the Presidential Office and the Fujien Provincial Government. He was kept from going home for three years. Now, he can finally work, live and enter his homeland. The experience of being blacklisted, of being jailed and of being ostracized by his own people is not something Chen likes to bring up. And it is largely kept from public knowledge, especially now that the Kin-Ma area is enjoying the freedom of an open society. "All the time, I was just an ordinary citizen," he always insists. Close