TheTaiwan Strait Tunnel Project is a proposedundersea tunnel to connectPingtan inMainland China toHsinchu inTaiwan as part of theG3 Beijing–Taipei Expressway. It has seen a few academic studies from theChina side, but no interest from theTaiwan side, which views such proposals as propaganda.[1] In addition to political factors, the project is generally not considered realistic due to technical and cost concerns.[2]
First proposed in 1996,[2] the project has since been subject to a number of academic discussions, including by the China Railway Engineering Society.[3] The route between Pingtan and Hsinchu has been proposed because of its short distance and its relative geological stability (ina region frequented by earthquakes).[4] In 2005, an academic from theChinese Academy of Engineering stated that the project was one of five major undersea tunnel projects under consideration for the next twenty to thirty years.[5]
The project is not considered viable due to the staggering costs, unsolved technical problems, and foremost a lack of interest from the Taiwanese.[1] At nearly 150 kilometres (93 mi) undersea, the proposed tunnel would be 6.4 times longer than the existingSeikan Tunnel (23.3 km or 14.5 mi), nearly 4 times longer than theChannel Tunnel (37.9 km or 23.5 mi) (the current longest underwater tunnel segment),[2][5] and two-thirds longer than the proposedBohai Strait tunnel project (which would be 90 kilometres (56 mi)). In addition, Taiwan is much concerned about the tunnel's potential use by China in military actions.[1] Nonetheless, in July 2013, theChinese State Council approved plans for the project.[6]
As the relation between Taiwan and China worsens, the proposal has been mocked in Taiwan, along with theBeijing–Taipei high-speed rail corridor.[7]
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.
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