China launched the first high-speed train over the waters of the Taiwan Strait, which is located between the Chinese mainland and the territory of the island of Taiwan. It is the closest railway line overlooking the island, which China considers part of its territory, while Taipei responds that it is an independent entity.
In a report on Sunday, China’s Xinhua News Agency quoted the ruling Communist Party as saying that the train departs from Fujian Province overlooking the strait, and its aim is to facilitate better communication and integration with Taiwan.
The official Chinese agency report stated:
• This is the fastest high-speed railway crossing the China Sea, with a maximum speed of 350 kilometers per hour.
• It passes through cities including Fuzhou, Putian, Quanzhou, Xiamen and Changzhou, all of which are close to Taiwan.
• Reduces travel time between Fuzhou and Xiamen, an economic center and hot tourist destination in the province, to less than an hour.
• It is the latest major addition to China’s sprawling high-speed rail network.
• The Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council affirmed Fujian as a model area for cross-Strait integrated development, with the aim of facilitating better communication and integration between Fujian and Taiwan.
• This line makes it technically possible to build a high-speed transportation corridor connecting the province to Taiwan.
Facilitating transit to the heart of Taiwan
Military expert, Jamal Al-Rifai, points out that in the past there were bridges extending between China and Taiwan, but immediately after the separation (the establishment of an independent government in Taiwan last century) they were removed, and little was left to maintain trade exchange between the two countries.
Over the past years, China has tried with all force to establish linking bridges with Taiwan, but the latter refused, fearing that this would facilitate its invasion, Al-Rifai says.
Regarding the motives behind the new line, the military expert added in an interview with Sky News Arabia: “If we assume good faith from China, and that it is a peaceful train, then if a conflict occurs, it will be the nucleus for establishing a bridge similar to the Crimean Bridge that Russia inaugurated when it took control of Crimea.” .
Al-Rifai infers this by saying, “Fujian Province is indeed the closest point to Taiwan, and at the same time close to huge Chinese military bases. The choice is very appropriate, and there is no better place than this island to establish the railway line, and as soon as a conflict occurs, China’s trains will be in the heart of Taiwan quickly.” big”.
In the opinion of Chinese affairs researcher, Mazen Hassan, the new train line “is aimed at strengthening relations with Taiwan peacefully, and is not intended to tamper with Taiwan’s security.”
However, at the same time, he believes that: “Because of the proximity of the railway line with Taiwan, in the event of a conflict, it may be used for military purposes.”
Speaking to Sky News Arabia, Hassan noted that officials in China “did not deny that the line was aimed at strengthening ties with Taiwan, but they also did not specify the method by which this would be done.”
History of the dispute
The dispute arose between China and Taiwan in 1949, when the Chinese Nationalist Party, the Kuomintang, moved there after its defeat in the civil war by the Communist Party. It established a government in Taiwan that was considered representative of all of China. It was called the Republic of China until 1971, which witnessed the United Nations’ recognition of Communist China. , officially known as the People’s Republic of China.
Taiwan is administered under an autonomous system, within the framework of China’s “one country, two systems” policy, which is rejected by the current government in Taiwan.
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