Hacker News Reader

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jul/27/worldbank.c...

He swam from Kinmen, a small island about 2 miles from the mainland.

I figured it must be islands, but didn't know there were some so close.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jul/27/worldbank.c...

It's only a couple of kilometers from the Kinmen to Xiamen:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinmen

"As a captain in the Republic of China Army in Taiwan, he defected to Mainland China on May 17, 1979, from the island of Kinmen off the coast of Fujian to the nearby island of Xiamen of Mainland China."[1]

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Yifu_Lin

I was also dubious. The swim was from Kinmen to Xiamen (~6 km)