Journey to the Borderlands: Every Inch of Land Flutters with Chinese Red

Every Inch of Land Flutters with Chinese Red

■ PLA Daily Reporters Hou Lei and Wang Likang

Militia conducts a flag-raising ceremony during the batch rotation. Photo by Chen Zhixian

With blue seas and skies under the blazing sun, after about 40 minutes of bumpy ride at sea, the speedboat the reporters were on slowed down, approaching the dock of Kaishan Island. Looking up from the boat, the five-star red flag was fluttering in the wind at the highest point of the small island.

As the boat neared the dock, the crew quickly jumped ashore to secure the ropes. The speedboat rocked continuously under the impact of the waves. Sixty-five-year-old Wang Shihua pushed away the hand extended by the crew member and stepped firmly onto the shore.

Kaishan Island covers only 0.013 square kilometers and is located 12 nautical miles from Yanwei Port in Guanyun County, Jiangsu Province. In 1939, Japanese invaders used this place as a springboard to capture Lianyungang. As a strategic island of our country, it was first garrisoned by troops and later guarded by militia.

“Although Kaishan Island is small, the national flag must be raised every day.” In 2018, Wang Shihua's husband, militia member Wang Jicai, passed away on duty, and the couple's story touched many people.

“Previously, it was a simple dock where only small boats could dock, and during bad weather, it was very difficult to supply materials.” Wang Shihua pointed to the sunken box dock nearby, saying it was built by the Guanyun County Lingang Industrial Zone and Yanwei Port Town government to improve conditions on the island. With it, the supply of materials and personnel access to the island became much more convenient.

After walking about 30 meters and turning a corner, three militia members in camouflage uniforms stood in neat rows. Wang Shihua greeted them, bent down to pick up fallen leaves, and pulled out weeds. After so many years of guarding the island, she had long regarded it as home.

After Wang Jicai's death, Wang Shihua applied to continue guarding the island. Considering her physical condition, the local authorities selected militia members to take turns guarding the island and appointed Wang Shihua as the honorary director of the Kaishan Island outpost.

“Among the militia guarding the island, there are party members, retired soldiers, Communist Youth League members, and staff from enterprises and institutions.” Wang Shihua said that each batch of personnel is divided into four teams to take turns guarding, with three members per team, each on duty for 15 days.

Militia member Sun Cundong, who previously served in a certain unit of the armed police, has been on duty since October 2019, guarding the island for nearly seven years. Raising the flag, patrolling the island, observing celestial phenomena, safeguarding navigation marks, and writing logs are their main daily tasks. With rich experience in guarding the island, Sun Cundong has chosen to continue “serving” multiple times during rotations. He said this makes it easier to mentor new comrades.

Under Sun Cundong's guidance, “post-90s” Zhang Mingxue has grown into a key militia member. Before going to the island, he was a civil engineering technician. When he first arrived on the island, he was full of enthusiasm but faced setbacks due to unfamiliarity with the work. Now, Zhang Mingxue not only handles daily tasks with ease but can also independently deal with emergencies. “No matter how great the difficulties, as long as we dare to persist, they will bow to us,” Zhang Mingxue said.

At a high point on Kaishan Island, there is an open space that Wang Shihua calls the Flag Square. Climbing up more than 200 steps, one can see fig trees, grapevines, and clusters of small flowers on both sides. The fruit trees planted in the past to alleviate supply difficulties have now become a scenic spot on the island. Wang Shihua playfully scolded Sun Cundong and the others for not picking and eating the fruits in time, resulting in some being dried by the wind.

“Now the island not only has electricity but can also produce fresh water, so material supply is no longer a problem.” Standing next to a workshop, Sun Cundong pointed to the seawater desalination equipment, saying this set of equipment produces fresh water daily, allowing the militia guarding the island to achieve “water freedom.”

The construction of a wind-solar complementary intelligent microgrid system has been completed, and the operation of the Beidou ground station for island power has begun, with “all-electric kitchens” and other living facilities being safe and hygienic... When talking about the changes on the island in recent years, Sun Cundong spoke with pride. As the time for patrol operations approached, he picked up his binoculars, carefully observed the surrounding situation, checked the instruments one by one, and recorded information such as temperature and wind force.

In the distance, seagulls soared, and large ships passed by. “After the ground station began operation, the positioning accuracy in nearby waters changed from meter-level to centimeter-level, benefiting marine development and fishermen's operations,” Wang Shihua said.

Stepping onto the last stone step, one arrives at the Flag Square. Under the five-star red flag, the chinaberry tree sways in the wind, and the statue of Wang Jicai stands tall, silently watching over the vast sea territory.

“Our city will experience gusts of around level 10, and relevant units and departments should take precautions…” The reporter received a message from the Lianyungang Marine Meteorological Station on their phone. Wang Shihua said that these warning messages are partly due to the efforts of the militia guarding the island. With the advancement of national coastal defense construction and the need for disaster prevention and reduction, relevant departments and research units have installed geological, seismic, meteorological, and environmental instruments on the island, making the militia guarding the island feel an even greater sense of responsibility.

“When Old Wang was alive, he was afraid of losing even a single blade of grass or tree.” Wang Shihua said that one batch of militia after another has taken on the task of guarding the island with seriousness and attention to detail, “If Old Wang could see this, he would definitely be very pleased.”

The sea breeze howls, and the familiar figure is no longer seen; the young guardians of the island are continuing his spirit. And this spirit of inheritance is not only present on Kaishan Island.

“Jiangsu Province has a coastline of nearly a thousand kilometers, with about 25 islands along the way, most of which are very small.” Wang Yuanliang, a staff member of the Jiangsu Provincial Coastal Defense Office, said that in recent years, local authorities at all levels have focused on building “smart coastal defense,” strengthening professional forces and infrastructure construction around island protection, law enforcement patrols, and port inspections, integrating resources to enhance control capabilities, effectively maintaining stability and development in coastal areas.

Facing the sea, sunflowers bloom. The East China Sea Maritime Affairs Office insists on leading with party building, polishing the “Maritime Red Maple Bridge” brand; the Yancheng Public Security Bureau carries out the “Calm Sea and Clear Shore” action, sharpening the coastal defense edge; the Nantong Border Inspection Station explores exclusive service mechanisms to ensure the safe passage of “national key equipment”... Along the coast of the Yellow Sea, professional forces are guarding the peace of thousands of families. Wang Shihua no longer needs to guard the island year-round; in her spare time, she often visits primary and secondary schools to give talks. Last year, she was appointed as an “honorary political instructor” by the Navy's Ezhou ship, and the spirit of Kaishan Island inspires officers and soldiers to sail further into the sea.

In the afternoon, the speedboat departed from the dock. Under the sunlight, the slogan “Home is the Island, the Island is the Country” on the island was particularly eye-catching. Not far away, fishing boats were riding the waves, with red flags fluttering on board, creating a unique scene at sea.

“The sea conditions have been good these days, making it a great time to go out to sea.” Wang Shihua said that fishermen are eager to head to the “blue pasture,” and tourists from afar will be able to taste the “first fresh catch” of the fishing season.

Data Link

In recent years, Jiangsu Province has continuously consolidated the “five-in-one” joint governance pattern of party, government, military, police, and civilians to manage the sea, completing the construction tasks of four provincial (municipal) military-police-civilian joint defense platforms, 15 county-level coastal defense monitoring centers, and 47 coastal defense monitoring stations. More than 1,600 communication base stations have been built and put into operation in coastal areas, islands, and offshore wind power platforms, basically achieving full coverage of mobile communication signals within 30 kilometers of nearshore waters. At the same time, independently developed and applied platforms such as “Anlan Jianghai,” “Jiaolong,” and “Haiyan” have effectively improved the precision of key area deployments and the refinement of coastal defense management.