Plans to link Kinmen County and China’s Xiamen with a bridge raise too many national security concerns to consider putting it to a referendum, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday, after the Chinese Nationalist Party’s presidential candidate backed the idea in a speech on the outlying county.
DPP caucus director Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said that most Taiwanese believe there are too many national security risks regarding New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi’s (侯友宜) plan to hold a referendum on building the so-called “Kinmen-Xiamen Peace Bridge.”
“If someone says this project would raise no national security concerns, they are lying,” Liu said. “Hou is defrauding people for votes.”
.Photo: CNA
“If the bridge project is feasible, it would have been completed during the administration of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT, as he always claimed he was the best person to communicate with the Chinese government,” she said.
“Hou must inform the public about the national security issues that would be raised by the project,” she said. “He has evaded such questions, despite the worries and misgivings of the public.”
“As a presidential candidate, Hou must not gloss over these issues,” Liu said.
She added that a referendum on the issue could not be left to Kinmen.
“Building a bridge linking Kinmen and Xiamen city would have implications for the entire nation’s national security, so it could not be a local referendum for Kinmen County residents alone,” Liu said.
Hou earlier yesterday presented his “six major programs” at an event in the county, saying that if elected president, he would support a referendum in Kinmen on the bridge plan, as well as approve plans to build electricity and natural gas connections to Xiamen.
DPP caucus secretary-general Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said that Hou’s proposals were clearly to abide by the policies of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), which would lead to the eventual takeover of Taiwan by China.
Xi on Jan. 2, 2019, proposed the “new four links” plan to supply Kinmen with “water, electricity, natural gas for fuel and a bridge connecting to Xiamen,” Chuang said.
That was part of a major policy address by Xi on his blueprint for cross-Strait development based on the “one country, two systems” model, he said.
Hou earlier said that Xiamen supplying electricity and natural gas would be good for the long-term economic development of Kinmen.
If there are no national security concerns, he would launch negotiations between the governments of Taiwan and China, he said.
If a referendum garnered the approval of a majority of Kinmen residents, he would initiate studies on the feasibility and economic benefits of a bridge link, if he added.
A proposal from a few years ago said that a bridge of 6km to 11km, depending on the route, would cost up to NT$13.2 billion (US$413.46 million at the current exchange rate).
Meanwhile, Taiwan People’s Party Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) backed the bridge plan.
“It is a good plan, which is why other people have also proposed it,” he said, apparently referring to himself, as he has previously pushed for such a connection.
“It is certainly feasible — and it would be beneficial to have a bridge up and running, along with links for water, electricity and natural gas, as well an improvement to garbage disposal for Kinmen,” Ko said.
“I am certain that a referendum, if it could be held, would be backed by local voters,” he said.
“Kinmen County is a good place to operate a pilot economic zone, to test whether Taiwan and China can cooperate,” he said.
Xiamen is close to Kinmen, so it would be the best place to test a “cross-Strait peace zone,” where the governments of Taiwan and China could deal with each other,” Ko added.
Kinmen County is a few kilometers from Xiamen.
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
A small-scale protest that called on the government to cancel its plan to welcome Indian migrant workers in a bid to tackle Taiwan’s labor shortage was held in Taipei yesterday. During the protest, comprised of a few dozen people staged in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, the protest’s chief initiator, a woman identified only as “Yuna” said they wanted the central government to reconsider allowing migrant workers from India to enter Taiwan. Most people in Taiwan had little knowledge about the potential plan to allow in Indian migrant workers until a report in the media last month, she
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with