In 1958, the 2nd Taiwan Strait Crisis broke out between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). Cold War tensions had increased an already tense situation between the PRC, based on the Chinese mainland, and the ROC, in Taiwan. As the Communists gained the upper hand in the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese Nationalists, often called the Kuomintang, retreated to the island of Taiwan in late-1949. The so-called Two-Chinas remained in conflict for decades.
The crisis of 1958 was not the first time the two sides came into conflict in the Taiwan Strait. Beginning in September 1954, in what became known as the First Taiwan Strait Crisis, full-scale combat broke between the ROC and PRC, as Mao Zedong wanted the PRC to invade Taiwan. American intervention, and guarantees to protect the ROC moving forward, brought the crisis to an end.
After the beginning of the Great Leap Forward in the PRC, tensions flared up again in the Taiwan Strait. In August 1958, PRC artillery shelled the ROC controlled islands of Kinmen, also known as Quemoy, and the Matsu Islands. These islands are closer to the Chinese mainland coast than Taiwan. Dogfights also broke out pitting PRC MiG-15 and MiG-17s against ROC F-86 Sabres. Despite the MIG’s advantages in climbing ability and heavy cannons, the Sabres gained a new advantage in these dogfights; the AIM-9B “Sidewinder” air-to-air missile.
The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis wound down on 6 October when the PRC Mao’s government asked for a ceasefire. The crisis came to an end on 2 December 1958 after the U.S. Seventh Fleet was withdrawn and the ROC military reinforced their garrisons on the offshore islands. Yet this is not the end of the artillery bombardment as Mao orders the shelling of the islands to continue on odd-numbered days. The shelling will continue periodically for the next 21 years until the United States normalizes relations with the People’s Republic of China in 1979.
Thanks to:
Kendall Carll, the author of the article ‘Revisiting the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis: Strategic Lessons for Today’ and is a recent graduate of Harvard College.
Dr. John Franklin Copper, who is the author of Taiwan: Nation-State or Province?; China Diplomacy: The Washington-Taipei-Beijing Triangle; and Historical Dictionary of Taiwan (Republic of China);. He is the Stanley J. Buckman Distinguished Professor of International Studies (emeritus) at Rhodes College in Tennessee.
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