Taiwan Strait Tunnel Project
{{Short description|Proposed road and rail tunnel}}
File:Taiwan Strait Tunnel Project.png
The Taiwan Strait Tunnel Project is a proposed undersea tunnel to connect Pingtan in Mainland China to Hsinchu in Taiwan as part of the G3 Beijing–Taipei Expressway. It has seen a few academic studies from the China side, but no interest from the Taiwan side, which views such proposals as propaganda.{{cite web | title = Taipei says thanks but no to cross-strait tunnel plan | publisher = Taipei Times | date = 26 April 2007 | url = http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/04/26/2003358257 | accessdate = 22 February 2012|quote=Taiwan has snubbed China's plan to link up the two countries with a highway or a tunnel under the Taiwan Strait, urging Beijing to be "more practical" in improving cross-Strait ties. "From the academic point of view, we can discuss this. But these `cross-Strait projects' are extremely difficult, costly and time-consuming," Mainland Affairs Council spokesman Johnnason Liu (劉德勳) told reporters on Tuesday.{...}In recent years, China has floated the idea of extending its national highway network to Taiwan by building a dam and filling in the 120km-wide Taiwan Strait, or building a tunnel under the strait. Taipei has dismissed the ideas as political propaganda and part of China's scheme to forcibly achieve China-Taiwan unification without the approval of Taiwan's people.}} In addition to political factors, the project is generally not considered realistic due to technical and cost concerns.{{cite web | title = Large basalt reef may make Taiwan Strait Tunnel come true | publisher = Whats On Xiamen | date = 25 November 2009 | url = http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/news8663.html | accessdate = 22 February 2012| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706105858/http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/news8663.html | archive-date = 6 July 2010 | url-status=dead }}
Proposals
First proposed in 1996, the project has since been subject to a number of academic discussions, including by the China Railway Engineering Society.{{cite web | title = Discussion on Options of Taiwan Strait Crossing Project and Qiongzhou Strait Crossing Project by 9 Academicians held in Luoyang, China: Several of Them Agree with Tunnel Option | publisher = China Civil Engineering Society | date = 26 April 2011 | url = http://www.cces-tuwb.com/En/shownews.asp?id=408 | accessdate = 22 February 2012 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20130718020525/http://www.cces-tuwb.com/En/shownews.asp?id=408 | archivedate = 18 July 2013 }} The route between Pingtan and Hsinchu has been proposed because of its short distance and its relative geological stability (in a region frequented by earthquakes).{{cite web | last = Li | first = Dapeng | title = Feasibility of cross-Straits tunnel discussed | publisher = China Daily | date = 8 November 2005 | url = http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-11/08/content_492243.htm | accessdate = 22 February 2012}} In 2005, an academic from the Chinese Academy of Engineering stated that the project was one of five major undersea tunnel projects under consideration for the next twenty to thirty years.{{cite web | title = China plans to build tunnel linking Taiwan: expert | publisher = China Daily | date = 13 May 2005 | url = http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-05/13/content_441902.htm | accessdate = 22 February 2012}}
Reception in Taiwan
The project is not considered viable due to the staggering costs, unsolved technical problems, and foremost a lack of interest from the Taiwanese. At nearly {{convert|150|m|mi|abbr=}} m undersea, the proposed tunnel would be 6.4 times longer than the existing Seikan Tunnel ({{convert|23.3|km|abbr=on|disp=or}}), nearly 4 times longer than the Channel Tunnel ({{convert|37.9|km|abbr=on|disp=or}}) (the current longest underwater tunnel segment), and two-thirds longer than the proposed Bohai Strait tunnel project {{convert|90|km|mi}}. In addition, Taiwan is much concerned about the tunnel's potential use by China in military actions. Nonetheless, in July 2013, the Chinese State Council approved plans for the project.{{cite web | title = Beijing moves forward on plans for tunnel to Taiwan | publisher = WantChinaTimes.com | date = 21 July 2013 | url = http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20130721000022&cid=1201 | accessdate = 20 July 2013 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20131212095707/http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20130721000022&cid=1201 | archivedate = 12 December 2013 }}
As the relation between Taiwan and China worsens, the proposal has been mocked in Taiwan, along with the Beijing–Taipei high-speed rail corridor.{{cite web |last1=Pan |first1=Jason |title=Taiwanese mock Beijing-Taipei transport link |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2021/03/02/2003753079 |website=The Taipei Times |access-date=2 March 2021}}
See also
References
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External links
- [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tandf/umgt/2004/00000022/00000003/art00005 An Engineering Concept of the Taiwan Strait Tunnel]
- [http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10641190490503926?journalCode=umgt20 Socioeconomic Impact of the Taiwan Strait Tunnel]
Category:Cross-strait relations
Category:Proposed transport infrastructure in China
Category:Proposed transportation infrastructure in Taiwan
Category:Proposed undersea tunnels in Asia
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