Channel-crossing teams from Taiwan and China are planning to come together to attempt to swim across the Taiwan Strait, a challenging task even for seasoned swimmers, a Hong Kong source reported yesterday.
The Hong Kong daily Ming Pao reported that Chinese swimmer Zhang Jian (張健), a lecturer with the Beijing University of Physical Education, has contacted Taiwan's renowned channel-crossing swimmer Wang Han (王瀚) several times in recent years with the idea of initiating a crossing attempt of the Taiwan Strait by swimmers from both sides.
The plan to swim across the Taiwan Strait has become a more and more feasible idea recently with the steady increase in the frequency and acceptance of cross-strait private exchanges despite the political impasse between the two sides, Zhang told the Hong Kong newspaper.
According to Zhang, who last August swam across northern China's Pohai, a gulf located on the Yellow Sea, and who is scheduled to take on the English Channel this July, Wang has set the autumn of 2002 as the time when the planned joint crossing by Wang and Zhang and their two teams of swimmers will take place.
Zhang told Ming Pao that crossing the 210km-wide Taiwan Strait alone is physically and politically impossible for any swimmer in the world to complete because of the unpredictable sea conditions as well as the political stalemate between Taiwan and China. He added that relay swimming would be a viable way of making the crossing.
Wang, who was also interviewed by Ming Pao reporters, said that technically, the Taiwan Strait crossing becomes a 400km crossing when the seasonal currents (which change once about every six hours) are factored in to the actual cross-strait swimming distance.
Wang noted that a point between Taoyuan County and Hsinchu County would be a good location from where to set out on the long-distance swim, adding that the ideal spot on the Chinese side has yet to be decided.
The northeastern monsoon season, from October through April, is not a suitable time for an attempted crossing of the Taiwan Strait, Wang said, adding that water temperature, sharks, physical exhaustion and seasickness are other factors that must be overcome for a successful crossing.
None of these physical factors, however, is as challenging as the political impasse across the Taiwan Strait, he lamented.
Wang, the first swimmer from Taiwan to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar and the first to conquer the English Channel, said he has been planning to challenge the Taiwan Strait for 10 years.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS