Due to political and historical circumstances, Kinmen has long been heavily militarized. But changes in Taiwan's political situation, the passage in 2000 of special regulations for offshore island development, and the opening of the "little three links" between Kinmen and Matsu on one side and the mainland on the other, mark a new starting point in its history.
金門深受地理位置及政治影響，長久以來處於烽火地帶，隨著政治體制改變，民國八十九年中央特定離島建設條例，規劃金、馬外島與大陸試行小三通，金門逐漸邁向歷史進程的新起點。