Overreaction to Taipei rail proposal

File photo taken on Feb 14, 2015 shows a CRH2G bullet train running for a test on the Harbin-Dalian high-speed railway, Northeast China. [Photo/Xinhua]

The proposed construction of high-speed railway linking Beijing and Taipei, revealed in the draft outline of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), if implemented, would mark a positive step toward promoting broader traffic and economic links between the mainland and Taiwan.

However, such a plan has created ripples throughout Taiwan, with some of its media and officials interpreting the plan as "preparation for reunification" with the island.

It is Chinese people's long-cherished dream to reunite the mainland and Taiwan, but the building of a high-speed railway alone would not achieve this goal as some in the island are claiming.

For the sake of better development on both sides of the Straits, it is normal and also practical to build a high-speed railway linking Beijing and Taipei, especially in the context of the mainland accelerating its infrastructure construction.

But considering the increased uncertainties in cross-Straits relations following the victory of Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party in the island's recent election, there are likely to be difficulties that will need to be overcome to build a high-speed railway or expressway between the two sides of the Straits.

The overreaction to the proposed high-speed railway project reflects the sense of urgency or political fear among some in Taiwan, those independence-minded ones in particular, in the face of the rapid buildup of the mainland's comprehensive strength.

Their overreaction may lay deadly obstacles in the way of the island's economic and social development, especially at a time when the mainland has become one of the world's major economic locomotives.

Only when those who are "politically sensitive" when dealing with the mainland change their "isolationist" mentality can Taiwan gain more economic vitality and greater development.

Global Times