The Taiwan Strait is a 180-kilometer -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is 130 km wide.

Kinmen, alternatively known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed as a county by the Republic of China (Taiwan), only 10 km (6.2 mi) east from the city of Xiamen in Fujian, located at the southeastern coast of the People's Republic of China, from which they are separated by Xiamen Bay. Kinmen is also located 187 km (116 mi) west from the closest shoreline of the island of Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait.