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( Kinmen)
Kinmen (traditional Chinese ??; Hanyu Pinyin Jinmén; Tongyong Pinyin Jinmén; Wade-Giles Chin-men; POJ Kim-mn^g; also romanized Quemoy from Southern Min (in early Spanish romanization); literally "Golden Door" or "Golden Gate"), located at 24.44° N 118.33° E, is a small archipelago of several islands administered by the Republic of China (ROC) government Greater Quemoy (???), Lesser Quemoy (???), and some islets. Administratively, it is Kinmen County of Fujian (Fuchien) Province, Republic of China. The county is claimed as part of Fujian's Quanzhou Prefecture by the People's Republic of China. Some islands of other counties, such as Wuciou, were transferred to the jurisdiction of Kinmen County by the ROC government following its retreat to Taiwan. Matsu is the other set of islands on the Fujian coast controlled by the ROC. Many of the county's inhabitants speak the Southern Min language (Min Nan). Due to their previous political isolation, most residents will say they speak "Kinmenese", as opposed to "Taiwanese" as it is commonly called in Taiwan, though the differences are arbitrary and the two dialects are mutually intelligible. Quemoy is geographically very near Xiamen (also known as Amoy). In contrast to the island of Taiwan and the Pescadores, Kinmen was never colonized by Japan. This was due to the fact that Kinmen is considered a part of Fujian. The island was the site of extensive shelling between PRC and ROC forces in the 1950s and 1960s and was a major issue in the 1960 United States Presidential Election between Kennedy and Nixon. In the 1950s, the United States threatened to use nuclear weapons against the PRC if it attacked the island.
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