Dismissing China's Minister of Communications Zhang Chun-xian's (
"Before technicians are able to overcome the technical difficulties and potential hazards of construction [for the project], the proposal is simply impractical," Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (
"If the Chinese government really wants to contribute and do something good for the relationship between Beijing and Taipei, we hope it will be something more practical than this," he said.
Zhang announced yesterday that China will construct seven highways around Beijing as well as nine north-south and 18 east-west highways right across the country.
The highway network will be nicknamed "7918 net" based on this distribution of carriageways. The highway to Taipei is also connected to the "7918 net."
"The idea behind building the highway network as well as a highway to Taipei is to increase the communication, in terms of traffic and the economy, within the country," Zhang said.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications responded to the grand plan with a "no comment" yesterday.
When first asked whether the ministry would comment on the plan, Vice Minister Tsai Duei (
"I read it in the evening newspaper. But I can't comment on anything at the moment because I really doubt the reliability of the story," Tsai said.
If the highway is built, technicians will face the challenge of building a tunnel between Taiwan and Fujian 130km in length.
Currently, the longest underwater tunnel in the world is the Aomori Hakodate Tunnel in Japan, which is almost 54km in length.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
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