Mainland China Built a Monument for a Taiwan Navy Sailor, Who Was Shot Dead by the PLA in a 1966 Battle

Location of Kinmen

Kinmen, is a region that consists of multiple islands located just a mile or two off the Chinese mainland. Despite its proximity to the mainland, Kinmen since 1949 has been under Taipei’s control.

Between 1949 to the late 1990s, Kinmen served as the front line are in the conflict between the Chinese Communists and Nationalists. While English language media often mentions the artillery exchanges between the two sides, English sources overlook the skirmishes fought between naval frogmen from both the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Taiwan military, who occasionally swam across and infiltrated each other’s lines to engage in clandestine battles.

During that period, many Taiwan soldiers stationed in Kinmen shared stories of PLA frogmen, sneaking into sentry posts and silently decapitating the guards on duty or sentries being tied up and brought to the mainland for interrogation. One account claims that a PLA recon soldier named Ji Ligai (纪璃蓋) successfully infiltrated Kinmen numerous times and captured multiple Taiwan soldiers on sentry duty. Most interestingly, there are also accounts of “underwater knife battles” fought between frogmen from the two sides.

The Taiwan (ROC) Army garrison based in Kinmen has a tradition of posting rotating shifts of sentries along the beaches of the islands, to be on the look out for infiltrators from the Mainland. This practice is still done today. During the the 1960s, it was rumored that PLA special forces would kidnap lone sentries and bring them to the Mainland for torture or interrogation. This rumors have not been backed up with evidence, but are prevalent in the community.

These stories persist within the Taiwan veteran community and among those who served on Kinmen during that tumultuous time.

A second narrative was the story of the Taiwan Frogman Captain Wu Guozhong (吳國忠). According to the story, Captain Wu was a Tai Chi and martial arts expert, who had perfected certain breathing exercises, allowing him to be an excellent swimmer. Captain Wu supposedly led over successful 40 infiltration and sabotage missions with a team of frogmen into the Chinese Mainland, destroying numerous PLA infrastructure. Captain Wu was also featured in numerous propaganda magazines on the Taiwan side and was photographed mingling with movie stars at the time. Wu retired from the military and became a Tai Chi instructor before he died in 2016.

(Left) Ji Ligai (纪璃蓋)of the Peoples Liberation Army supposedly swam to Kinmen and captured several Taiwan sentries on duty. (Right)Captain Wu of the ROC (Taiwan) Frogmen was featured on the propaganda at the time.

A major battle took place in August 1966. According to Taiwan’s United Daily News, on the early morning of August 23, 1966, seven “National Army” (Taiwan) frogmen took a small boat and sneaked onto the Communist-controlled Dadeng Island, north of Kinmen to carry out a reconnaissance operation. However, the frogmen were spotted by PLA Communist troops garrisoned on the island, and in the ensuing gun battle, the ROC (Taiwan) Warrant Officer Wang Chenglu was killed in action. Two other Taiwan frogmen were captured. The survivors of the battle jumped back into the ocean and swam back to safety in Kinmen, leaving Wang’s body behind. Wang’s body was later buried by the PLA soldiers on Dadeng.

Warrant Officer Wang Cheng Lu 王承鲁 — a Taiwan frogman was shot dead during an attack on the Communist controlled Dadeng Island. A monument has been built for him on Dadeng by his family members, and with the approval of the local Communist Party of China authorities.

Survivors of the 1966 Dadeng Island battle from the Taiwan side visited the site of the battle and built a grave for Wang Chenglu with permission from the CCP..

Taiwan newspaper report from the time reported on Warrant Officer Wang’s exploits before he was killed.

With the normalization of relations between Taiwan and the Chinese Mainland in the 1990s and 2000s, communication and contact between the two sides of the Taiwan straits were established. Relations were particularly warm during the Ma Ying Jeou administration (2008–2016).

In January 2016, four retired Taiwan frogmen, including Yang Jingping, Chen Zhencheng, Li Zifan, and Liang Zhongxin, led by Zheng Shuizhong, returned to Dadeng Island and the original place of Wang Chenglu’s death. The veterans met with their Mainland counterparts and were permitted to build a grave as a monument for Wang Chenglu.

Today in 2023, the times have changed and active fighting between the two sides have ceased. At present, the population in Kinmen no longer wants to be the “front line area” of the Cross-Straits Conflict but the majority of the community and leaders there have expressed hopes to become a “peace zone” and promote friendly interactions between the two sides. There are calls to build a bridge, linking Kinmen with the Chinese Mainland, and removing the remaining Taiwan military forces based in the area.

Politicians on Kinmen oppose war.