Visitors browse products showcased by Taiwan compatriots at the Sixth 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Exposition and the 25th Cross-Straits Fair for Economy and Trade in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province on May 22, 2023. Photo: VCG

People of various sectors on both sides of the Taiwan Straits have long awaited direct infrastructure connectivity between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan island, Cong Liang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, the nation's top economic planner, told a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on Thursday, while the secessionist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities on the island continue to undermine such exchanges.

The official urged both sides to work together to strive for the early realization of the dream where people from both sides can easily cross the Straits on high-speed trains.

While efforts have been made in recent years in promoting the planning and construction of transportation infrastructure in East China's Fujian Province, which neighbors Taiwan island, more cooperation is needed, especially from Taiwan island, in responding to development needs in the region, officials and experts said.

"We have already built an integrated multidimensional transportation network in Fujian Province, making it technically possible to build a high-speed transport passage linking Fujian with Taiwan," Cong said, adding that this has laid a solid foundation for enhancing the infrastructure level across the Taiwan Straits.

The central government pledged to fully leverage Fujian's unique advantages and leading demonstration role toward Taiwan, increasing financial support while promoting comprehensive infrastructure connectivity between Fujian and Taiwan.

Specifically, efforts will be made to further optimize the passenger and freight routes between the coastal areas of Fujian and Taiwan creating more convenient conditions and a more relaxed environment for exchanges between compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits and the stay of compatriots of the Taiwan island in Fujian, according to Cong.

The advanced transportation networks, if they are built, will surely drive up the growth of Taiwan's economy from its current woes and create a sustainable impetus for regional development not for years but for decades to come, Wang Jianmin, a senior cross-Straits expert at Minnan Normal University in East China's Fujian Province, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Fujian has established the most convenient channel for cross-Straits personnel exchanges.

"The province has achieved full coverage of direct sea routes to major ports in Taiwan and has opened 17 regular sea and air routes. At peak times, there are up to 430 flights operating each week," Luo Dongchuan, Fujian's deputy Party chief, said at the press briefing on Thursday.

The mainland has been taking concrete steps to strengthen cross-Straits commercial and people-to-people exchanges since the downgraded epidemic response earlier this year, in stark contrast to the DPP authorities' restrictive actions.

Building high-speed transportation facilities across the Straits is always what the mainland has been hoping for and it is also a reflection of the various sectors of the people on both sides of the Straits, Wang said, "but building a cross-Straits high-speed railway or highway is never a technical issue but political issue, given the fact that the authorities of Taiwan region have been relentlessly seeking decoupling and even separation, casting shadows on facilitating connectivity on both sides."

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said at a press conference on April 26 that people on both sides of the Straits hope that cross-Straits people-to-people exchanges as well as exchanges in various fields will be normalized as soon as possible.

"The DPP authorities should heed the will of the public, completely remove artificial barriers and take practical measures to restore cross-Straits communication and normal exchanges," Zhu urged.

Global Times