Chinese want a Beijing-Taipei highway by 2035
The plan, which also calls for a high-speed railway, suggests that Beijing is convinced that it will have taken back the island by that date. For the Taiwanese, the plan is pure "science fiction". Meanwhile, the US announces new military aid to Taiwan and does not exclude letting it participate in RIMPAC military exercises.
Taipei (AsiaNews) – China is revamping a plan to build expressways and a high-speed railway connecting Beijing to Taiwan, passing through Fuzhou, in the southeastern province of Fujian. The whole project should be completed by 2035.
In view of Taiwanese opposition to the initiative, its implementation implies that the Chinese think that the island will be reunified with the mainland by that date – by force or peacefully.
On Tuesday, China's State Council (cabinet) released its National Highway Network Plan with the relevant information about the huge project; however, much of it was already in the government’s Guidelines on the National Comprehensive Transportation Network Plan presented in February 2021.
The plans include two more expressways connecting Quanzhou and Kinmen, the Taipei-administered archipelago opposite Fujian.
According to the Taiwanese government, the Chinese road plan is propaganda, a "science fiction novel," Taiwan News reported., not only because of the implications for Taiwan's sovereignty, but also because of the logistical – and therefore economic – challenges the project represents.
The two connections envisioned by Beijing have to cross the Taiwan Strait – the shortest sea distance between Fujian and the Taiwanese coast is 68 nautical miles (126 kilometers).
China considers Taiwan a rebel province and has never ruled out seizing it by force. The island has been de facto independent from the mainland since 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek's nationalists fled after losing the civil war against the Communists. Since then, it has been the heir to the Republic of China founded in 1912.
With the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, the United States has promised to defend the island, especially with military supplies. Adopted after recognising Communist China, the law does not however clearly say whether Washington will respond to a Chinese aggression against Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration announced yesterday that it had given the green light to a new military aid package for Taiwan, the fourth this year.
Totalling US$ 108 million, it involves the sale of equipment and spare parts for tanks and combat vehicles, with relative technical assistance.
On Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed its version of the Taiwan Peace and Stability Act, which includes an amendment to the 2023 military spending bill.
Once adopted by the Senate and signed by President Biden, the law will require the US government to invite Taiwan to the 2024 RIMPAC military exercises, the most important carried out by US forces in the Pacific.
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