Since the retreat of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949, the island of Kinmen-only 2000 meters from the city of Xiamen in the PRC-has been the first line of defense against the military threat from mainland China.
民國三十八年國民政府播遷來台後，與大陸廈門相距僅二千公尺的金門，一直是台灣防禦中共軍事威脅的最前線。