China plans to build an airport in the waters near Taiwan

Pingtan, China
Pingtan, China
(Wikimedia Commons photo)

Taipei (Taiwan News)-Beijing is planning to build an airport on the reclaimed land near Pingtan Island, which is China’s closest place to Taiwan’s main island.

According to documents released by the Fujian provincial authorities, the airport will be built on the airport plan between Dasha Island and Xiaosha Island near the east coast of Pingtan. South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Since 2013, Pingtan has been part of a pilot free trade zone that aims to help deepen economic ties with Taiwan. Beijing has spent hundreds of billions of RMB on infrastructure related to economic integration in Pingtan and its surroundings. Although the airport has been linked to such plans, the extent to which it is used for military purposes has not been disclosed.

According to the South China Morning Post, the airport will cost about 3 billion yuan (US$463 million) and will become “a major aviation and logistics hub to Taiwan.” It is part of a large-scale infrastructure package designed by Beijing to economically assimilate its smaller neighbors, with at least 10 new civilian airports, dozens of seaports, and from Fujian Province to Taiwan’s Matsu and the Golden Gate Islands. Bridge.

According to the report, these plans have received the full support of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who told Fujian officials in March that “we must boldly explore new paths for comprehensive cross-strait development”. Over the years, these “new roads” have been both absurd and sinister. For example, in 2016, China proposed to build a bridge to Taiwan’s main island in Pingtan.

Taiwan, the intended recipient of these hoaxes, has made it clear that it rejects any attempts to actively involve them in the infrastructure of hostile foreign powers.