Kinmen's strategic location in the Taiwan Strait has caused numerous confrontations, making it a visible embodiment of political change on cross-strait relations.

Kinmen scholar Wei Jian-feng advocates the use of the word Quemoy to better connect the island to "international society or achieve more recognition in the world".

[17] During the reign of Emperor Yuan (317 CE), the Five Barbarians invasion of China led six extended families to flee south and they settled in Kinmen, then called Wuzhou.

[20] The Japanese administered Kinmen as a special municipality of Xiamen, the government was composed of locals, people from other parts of occupied China, and Taiwanese.

[23] Towards the end of WWII conditions worsened with Japanese authorities conscripting 500 locals (with their mules) into the military and confiscating household goods.

While those islands are still claimed by the ROC,[25] they are governed as part of Dadeng Subdistrict, Xiang'an District, Xiamen, Fujian, China.

[26][27] On 25 October 1949, People's Liberation Army (PLA) forces landed on Kinmen Island near Guningtou beginning the Battle of Kuningtou.

At the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, retired Admiral Charles M. Cooke Jr., advisor to President Chiang Kai-shek, opposed withdrawing ROC forces from Quemoy (Kinmen).

[31] Again in 1958, General Nathan Farragut Twining and the Joint Chiefs of Staff believed that the United States should not permit the loss of the islands to the communists and recommended to President Eisenhower the use of whatever force was necessary, including atomic weapons.

During the debates, both candidates, Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy, pledged to use American forces if necessary to protect Taiwan from invasion by the PRC, which the United States did not recognize as a legitimate government.

But in the second debate on 7 October 1960, the two candidates presented different opinions about whether to use American forces to protect Taiwan's forward positions, Quemoy and Matsu, also.

[33] Earlier in the debate, then-Vice President Nixon mentioned:[34][35] In the Truman Administration 600 million people went behind the Iron Curtain including the satellite countries of Eastern Europe and Communist China.

It is a decision finally that the Nationalists should make and I believe that we should consult with them and attempt to work out a plan by which the line is drawn at the Island of Formosa.

And as long as they are not essential to the defense of Formosa, it has been my judgement ever since 1954, at the time of the Eisenhower Doctrine for the Far East, that our line should be drawn in the sea around the island itself.

Generals testified to that, and Secretary Acheson made a very famous speech at the Press Club early in the year that the Korean War started, indicating in effect that South Korea was beyond the defense zone of the United States.

In my opinion, this is the same kind of woolly thinking that lead to disaster for America in Korea, I'm against it, I would never tolerate it as President of the United States, and I will hope that Senator Kennedy will change his mind if he should be elected.

[40] Kinmen was originally a military reserve under the Martial Law curfews, which eventually led to the tragedies of innocent civilian casualties,[41] such as the 1985 Shi Islet Slaughter and 1987 Lieyu massacre.

However, this changed following the 2005 Pan–Blue visits to mainland China and the 2008 presidential and legislative victories of the KMT, that allowed easier cross-Strait relations.

Kinmen has experienced a considerable economic boom as businessmen relocate to the island for easier access to the vast markets of the PRC.

[49] On 23 August 2019, the sixty-first anniversary of the beginning of the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, President Tsai Ing-wen visited the Taiwushan martyrs' shrine (太武山忠烈祠) in Mount Taiwu where she placed flowers and offered incense.

[65] Kinmen, much like the surrounding Chinese mainland, is predominantly composed of Cretaceous aged granite, with lesser amounts of Eocene-Oligocene sandstone, Miocene basalt and Pleistocene-Holocene conglomerate.

Local artisans would collect the vast amounts of exploded ordnance and make high-quality knives which are still sought after by chefs and connoisseurs.

[78] Since 1 January 2015, Chinese mainland tourists were no longer required to apply for Exit and Entry Permit in advance for visits to Kinmen, Penghu and Matsu Islands.

Beishan Old Western-style House, Chenggong Coastal Defense Tunnel, Chen Shi-yin Western Style House, Deyue Gun Tower, Gulongtou Zhenwei Residence, Jindong Movie Theater, Jinshui Elementary School, Juguang Tower, Kinmen Folk Culture Village, Kinmen Military Headquarters of Qing Dynasty, Mashan Broadcasting and Observation Station, Mofan Street, Qingtian Hall, Qionglin Tunnel, Yannan Academy, Wang Chin-cheng's Western House, Wuqiu Lighthouse and Zhaishan Tunnel.

Kinmen is famous for the production of Kaoliang liquor, which takes up about 75% of Taiwan's market share, in which it is a strong economic backbone of the county.

The current majority seats of Kinmen County Council is from independent, but headed by speaker Hung Yun-tien (Chinese: 洪允典; pinyin: Hóng Yǔndiǎn) of the Kuomintang.

[103] For decades, Kinmen has been facing difficulties in water supply to its residents due to its shallow lakes, lack of rainfall and geographical constraints which makes building reservoirs and dams unfeasible.

Kinmen draws more than 8,000 tonnes of groundwater every day and water from its reservoir is barely enough to support the residents during the dry season.

[104] The Jinjiang–Kinmen Pipeline was officially opened on 5 August 2018 when it first started supplying water, and was celebrated by separate ceremonies held in both Kinmen County and Jinjiang City in mainland China.

In the past, due to constant artillery shelling from China, an underground port at the Zhaishan Tunnel was used to supply the island in times of conflict.