Taiwanese islands weigh plan for "peace bridge" to China
Proposal to create demilitarised zone on Kinmen islands reflects feeling that close ties with Beijing are inevitable
In Taiwan’s Kinmen islands, the mood is far from warlike. the skyscrapers of Xiamen, a Chinese city three miles away, are a reminder of the wealth and security that Beijing could deliver to Kinmen should Taiwan and China be unified.
Taiwanese citizens of Kinmen see a past and future that is inextricably linked with the superpower next door.
On Kinmen, local officials are discussing a plan to build a bridge to Xiamen that would see barriers to China reduced rather than enhanced.
“Our culture and history are already very connected. Kinmen people don’t feel threatened by China” says Xiaoyun, who is running to be a councillor for the TPP.
Kinmen’s economy is reliant on tourism. Until 2019, nearly half of the tourists came from China. But that year, amid strained relations, China banned individual tourists from travelling to Taiwan. The following year, citing Covid-19 restrictions, Taiwan banned Chinese tour groups as well.
“It’s just impossible” says Szonyi, Professor of Chinese studies at Harvard, for the archipelago “to conceive of a prosperous future that doesn’t involve China”.
“Before 1949, Kinmen belonged to Fujian province in China” says Jiajiang, chief executive of the TPP “After 1949, we became a war island and lost the benefits of trading with China.”
Wu is advocating for a “peace bridge” that would connect Taiwanese islands with China. The idea is part of a broader proposal to turn Kinmen into a demilitarised zone which supporters say would help to de-escalate tensions with China and boost the territory’s economy.
Locals complain that medicines and utilities on the islands are expensive, in part because it is difficult to import supplies.
The bridge represents a feeling on Kinmen that close ties with China are inevitable. About 30% of the islands’ water is pumped in from Fujian’s Lake via a pipeline. Kinmen’s government also have a contract with a Chinese company to provide gas, and there are discussions about connecting the energy grid with China’s.
“In most parts of the world, politicians are able to make decisions about how to source water without reference to global geopolitics" says Szonyi. On Kinmen “that’s impossible”.
Yujun, who is originally from China. Had a recent trip to Xiamen, she complains, she had to wait more than two hours for a space on a ferry, a bridge would be “really convenient”. The strained relationship between Taipei and Beijing has no impact on regular people, she says.
Some people might still feel buffeted by forces from Beijing and Taipei that are beyond their control. “If China wants to invade, they don’t need a bridge” Wu concludes.
