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Ma presents unrealistic proposal for Songshan

Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) recently proposed that Songshan Airport become a hub connecting China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea once direct cross-strait links have been opened. In the face of skepticism over whether Songshan Airport would be suitable as an international airport, Ma has countered that it used to be an international airport.

Just because Songshan used to be an international airport doesn't mean that it is still suited to the job. More and more cities have chosen to build airports on the outskirts of the city because the middle of a city is not the right place for an airport.

Songshan has only a 2,600m runway, which is incapable of handling the biggest cargo and passenger plane used by international airlines, the Boeing 747. Moreover, it's impossible to extend the runway because of its location in the city. And if we consider the future arrival of the Airbus 380 super jumbo jet, Songshan's inadequacy becomes even more apparent.

Second, if we want to make Songshan an international airport, we will have to add quarantine and customs facilities. The airport would have to operate 24 hours a day, meaning that flights would still be taking off and landing in the middle of the night. This is simply unacceptable for a densely populated city like Taipei. Furthermore, Songshan's current internal structure and hangar facilities cannot handle high demand.

We must also ask ourselves if Taiwan has a large enough market to sustain the costs of more international airports. Tokyo, for example, has approximately 20 million people living in the city center and surrounding areas. It is a first-rate international city, but just one international airport is adequate to cover all its needs.

In comparison, all of Taiwan has a population of 23 million, and it has three international airports. And with most travelers drawn to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the number of passengers leaving through Kaohsiung International Airport fell to just 7 million last year, while Taichung International Airport had just 600,000.

Both the current Taiwan High Speed Rail and the future MRT line to Taoyuan will adequately improve Taipei's links with the airport. Ma's insistence that Songshan be made into an international airport lacks foresight.

Based on his belief that Taiwan will be marginalized under an ASEAN free trade zone that would include China, South Korea and Japan, Ma has prioritized establishing sister cities across the Taiwan Strait. I have already said in my book Community that Taiwan invests 30 times more money in ASEAN countries than China does. And even though China conducts more than twice as much trade with ASEAN countries as Taiwan does, with a population of 1.3 billion, that amount is a mere trifle.

Trade between Taiwan and China mostly consists of parts and semi-finished products, whereas trade between China and ASEAN countries is mostly raw materials and finished products. There should be no concern that one will replace the other. And with both China and ASEAN countries earning foreign money through labor-intensive industries, there is fierce competition between the two. To say that ASEAN countries and China are engaged in economic cooperation is not as accurate as saying that it is a statement on international politics. Add Japan and South Korea to the mix and the result is a stage for China and Japan to fight for southeast Asian leadership.

Ma's proposed plan is a fantasy. The idea of Ma leading Taiwan is enough to make me break out in a cold sweat.

Lin Cho-shui is a former Democratic Progressive Party legislator.

Translated by Marc Langer
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