Tungchu
Language: English
Part of speech: name
Etymology: 1970s, from Mandarin 東莒 (Dōngjǔ) Wade–Giles romanization: Tung¹-chü³.
Senses: examples: text: 1. THE EMBASSY HAS JUST LEARNED THAT ADMIRAL SOONG, CHIEF OF GS, MND, HAS INFORMED COMUSTDC BY LETTER DATED MAY 9 (NOT RECEIVED UNTIL MAY 18) THAT ON APRIL 30, A FLIGHT OF FOUR PRC FIGHTER AIRCRAFT FLYING AT 20,000 FEET AND 450 NM/PER HOUR "INTRUDED INTO THE AIRSPACE OF TUNGCHU AND HSICHU OF OUR MATSU AREA". SOONG FURTHER ADVISED THAT "THE INTRUDING AIRCRAFT THEN ESCAPED UPON THE FIRING OF OUR ADA UNITS". SOONG INTERPRETS INCIDENT AS MANIFESTING PRC INTENT "TO MAKE PROVOCATIONS"; AND THAT "THIS PROVOCATIVE ACT MIGHT LEAD TO SERIOUS CONSEQUENCE AND ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR MUTUAL DEFENSE POSTURE". SOONG ASKS COMUSTDC TO "TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTIONS IN ORDER TO PREVENT ESCALATION OF THE STRAINED SITUATION IN THE TAIWAN STRAITS".
ref: 1977 June, “REPORTED GROC ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRING AT PRC AIRCRAFT IN VICINITY OF MATSU”, in Department of State Cable, numbers 1977-127151, published 2009, page 1:
text: In the morning I had a discussion with military leaders, then left for Hsichu, where I was brief­ed by the commander and visited the troops.[…]
At noon I called at Chingfan Village and saw that living conditions were much improved. Every family has vegetables and frequently meat. I took a boat across the strait to Tungchu.
ref: 1980 August 1 [1980 July 19], Ching-kuo Chiang, “President Chiang Ching-kuo continues his period of mourning and finds that visits to countryside and people give him renewed strength”, in Taiwan Today, archived from the original on 17 May 2020:
text: The archipelago's Kaoteng Island lies a mere 9,250 metres from the mainland's Peijiao peninsula, while Tungchu island at the extreme southeast of the archipelago is all of 114 nautical miles distant from Keelung, Taiwan.
ref: 1985, 勝利之光, 新中國出版社, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 24, column 1:
text: On outlying islands controlled by Taiwan, people started evacuating homes in case the missile tests escalate into something nastier. On Tungchu Island, for example, only 20 of the original 100 inhabitants are left. Rice is unavailable, and the streets are patrolled by soldiers in full combat and chemical weapon gear.
ref: 1996 March 9, Ian Johnson, “Taiwan tries to stand tall But residents rush to secure property; some prepare to flee”, in The Baltimore Sun, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Jun 2021, News:
text: "We are leaving for Taiwan to escape disaster," said a schoolgirl from the island of Tong Chu, near Matsu and just 10 nautical miles away from the area of the Chinese war games. Taiwan television stations carried film of the mini-evacuation, but also noted that a number of residents were choosing to stay in their homes.
ref: [1996 March 18, Patrick Tyler, “China Warns U.S. to Keep Away From Taiwan Strait”, in New York Times, archived from the original on 26 May 2015:
text: One of the least defended islands of the chain, Hsichu, and another island, Tungchu, are regarded by locals as potential targets for Chinese attack.
ref: 1996 March 19, “TAIWAN: MATSU ISLANDS ARE ANCHOR OF TAIWAN'S LINE OF DEFENCE”, in AP News, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2023:
text: TUNGCHU, Taiwan, March 18— As China was set to mount a second wave of war games today barely 10 miles from this storm-swept granite islet, Wang Chien-hua gazed over the village's empty, puddled schoolyard.[…]
This morning, Chao Chuan-sun, the county head from Matsu, festooned in campaign buttons and a hat proclaiming his support for President Lee, clambered into a boat heading for Hsichu, Tungchu's neighbor. "I'm going to the island because it is closest to the exercise," he said.
ref: 1996 March 19, Edward A. Gargan, “Off China, Isle Waits Nervously”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 May 2015, World:
text: Meanwhile, residents on Tungchu island, part of the Matsu group, reported artillery fire coming from Pingtan, the mainland designated drill zone, yesterday.
ref: 1996 March 21, Agnes Cheung, “Army told to ignore mainland promises”, in South China Morning Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 May 2021:
text: The Taiwanese army will use various cannons to shoot at the sea between Nankan and Tungchu, two isles of the Matsu island group, the report said. Missiles may also be used in the drill, the paper said, quoting unnamed military sources. Tungchu is just 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) from a zone where China held a live-fire, sea-air-land exercise from March 15 to March 25.
ref: 1996 April 1 [1996 March 31], “Taiwan: Defense Minister Announces Live-Fire Drills on Matsu”, in Daily Report: China, numbers 96-063, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, sourced from Hong Kong AFP, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 83:
text: The author went to Tungchu on 20 March, just two days after the PLA manoeuvres started on Pingtan Island. Though two-thirds of the civilian population had provisionally left Tungchu, the atmosphere was relaxed and, in the five hours spent there, the author was able to hear the remote sound of PRC guns just[…]
ref: 1997, Greg Austin, Missile Diplomacy and Taiwan's Future: Innovations in Politics and Military Power, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 14:
text: This island, just to the west of Tungchu, was once nicknamed 'Little Hong Kong' (very little) attributed to its supposedly bustling harbour. These days there's considerably less bustle, but it's still a much more lively place than Tungchu Island.
ref: 1998, Robert Storey, “Islands of the Taiwan Straits”, in Taiwan (Lonely Planet), 4th edition, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 323:
text: The main island of the complex is Nankan, more commonly known as Mazu, from the name of the major port of the island. It is 114 nautical miles north-west of Keelung, the port city on the northern tip of Taiwan, and is the same distance north of the Jinmen Islands. Other major islands of the group are Peikan, Kaoteng, Tungyin, Hsiyin, Tungchu and Hsichu.
ref: 2000 May, Keyuan Zou, “Redefining the Legal I Status of the Taiwan Strait”, in The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, volume 15, number 2, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 247:
text: “The number of terns has significantly increased this year”, as Wang Chien-hua—the principal of Tungchu Elementary School said.
ref: 2007, “Wang Chienhua Captured a Picture of Chinese Crested Tern at Chingfan Port, Sijyu Island, in the Matsu Archipelago”, in Birding in Taiwan, archived from the original on 28 Jul 2007:
text: The Tungchu Tao Lighthouse in Matsu is a national historic building, the first granite lighthouse built in Taiwan, which has survived the shifts of contemporary history.
ref: 2016 February 14, “Matsu’s Tungchu Tao Lighthouse stands tests of time”, in Taipei Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2016, Taiwan News, page 2:
text: The islands of Jyuguang Township (莒光鄉; Jǔguāng xiāng), Dongju (東莒; Dōngjǔ; Tongchu) and Xiju (西莒; Xījǔ; Hsichu), are the most southerly of Matsu’s islands. Both are remote and sparsely inhabited, but there's some pretty scenery.
ref: [2017 May, Piera Chen, Dinah Gardner, “Taiwan's Islands”, in Lonely Planet Taiwan (Lonely Planet), 10th edition (Travel), Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 299:
text: In Taiwan, the first five lighthouses were set up at Yuwen Tao, Eluan Pi, Kaohsiung, Anping, and Tamsui by Ching administration. In Kinman^([sic – meaning Kinmen]), the Tungting Tao and Peiting Tao, lighthouses were constructed. In addition, in Matsu, lighthouses were set up on Tungchu Tao, Tungyin Tao and Wuchiu.
ref: (Can we date this quote?), “Marine Lighthouse Section”, in Customs Museum, archived from the original on 17 Oct 2021, Museum Guide:
text: Dongquan Lighthouse, aka Dongju Lighthouse or Tungchu Tao Lighthouse, was built in 1872 at the request of the British Government after the Opium War in the Qing Dynasty.[…]
Tungchu here means Dongju, and Tao means islands.
ref: 2022 March 22, Anusha Lee, “Hidden Trails You Probably Don't Know about on Matsu Islands 2: Dongju Island, Dongquan Lighthouse, Mysterious Little Bay, and Chipinglong Archaeological Site”, in Taiwan Hikes (Blog), archived from the original on 27 Mar 2022:
glosses: Alternative form of Dongju.