(following a-gu's post about the bridge)
Building a Kinmen-Xiamen Bridge (KXB), a bridge to connect Kinmen and China land, is one of Ma Ying-jeou's presidential campaign promises (like the 633 promise that he ditched after he got elected). In a commemorative assembly for the 50th anniversary of 823 Artillery Bombardment (八二三砲戰) in August last year (2008), Ma Ying-jeou announced a plan to build such a bridge. He instructs Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research's (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) to complete an evaluation before the end of year. Premier Liu said that it represents a vision of the government.
This plan is not welcomed by the army. They say that with the current military strengths of both sides, it's already hard to defend Kinmen. Such a bridge will connect Taiwan and China by land and will be virtually impossible for the army to protect Kinmen. As a result, the completion of such a bridge will keep the door wide open, rendering Kinmen completely defenseless. (建金廈大橋 軍方：防務雪上加霜, Liberty Times, Aug 25rd, 2008)
If Ma insists on building it, he might as well withdraw all the defense force in Kinmen to avoid meaningless loss of soldiers' lives in case of military conflict.
The 823 Artillery Bombardment signifies the unquestionable determination of old KMT to safeguard Kinmen against China's invasion in 1948. Those soldiers who sacrificed their lives in that event are regarded national heroes by the old KMT government. It's so ironic that to commemorate them, Ma Ying-jeou announces such a plan to basically give Kinmen away to China for free.
Earlier this month, CIER announces the evaluation report on KXB. It says that there might be economic benefits if such a bridge is built, but due to the fact that Xiamen is a much more developed area than Kinmen is, a bridge will speed up the outflow of Kinmen resources and eventually bring deterioration to Kinmen in the long run.
Therefore the evaluation report suggests that Ma government to postpone such a plan (中經院報告 建議金廈大橋緩建, Liberty Times, Mar 3rd, 2009)
According the above news piece, the evaluation is entirely based on the economy interests. Neither the safety of Kinmen against possible invasion nor the national security of Taiwan is evaluated.
The report is submitted to the Executive Yuan for review. Lets see if Ma Ying-jeou's "evaluation before construction" is just for show.
3 comments:
Therefore the evaluation report suggests that Ma government to postpone such a plan (中經院報告 建議金廈大橋緩建, Liberty Times, Mar 3rd, 2008)
2008 is a typo for 2009?
Thanks, Luby, corrected.
(Geesus ... am I still in 2008 ?)
I do want to point out that little piece of lore is false. The soldiers on Kinmen were certainly brave and made the ultimate sacrifice. But what really stopped the Communists from coming over was the US threatening to become involved and even use nuclear weapons. KMT old guard lore is very utilitarian and doesn't really care much for the facts. Which is probably why they don't care anymore--it's no longer useful to tell this false story any longer.
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