A bridge too far? Taipei mayor draws fire for proposal to link Quemoy and Xiamen

Ko Wen-je revives project to join Taiwan islet to mainland city, contending it would help ease cross-strait tensions

Opponents reject the idea, calling it a ‘Trojan horse’ that would aid any People’s Liberation Army invasion

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Tourists in October 2020 stand alongside anti-landing spikes on one of the Quemoy islets, with Xiamen on mainland China in the background. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s proposal to build a Xiamen-Quemoy bridge has drawn sharp criticism from other Taiwan politicians. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 25 Jun 2022Updated: 4:39pm, 25 Jun 2022

Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je has come under fire for his proposal to build a bridge linking Taiwan’s offshore islet of Quemoy and the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen, with opponents claiming it would be a “Trojan horse” serving only to aid any potential attack by the People’s Liberation Army.

Ko, known for his friendly stand towards the mainland, revived the long-shelved idea during a recent visit to Quemoy, also known as Kinmen, where he said the bridge would not only help promote prosperity on the former Taiwan defence outpost but also ease cross-strait tensions.

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je has drawn criticism for his suggestion to build a bridge between Taiwan’s islet of Quemoy and the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen. Photo: EPA-EFE

With a population of some 140,000, Quemoy is 10km (6 miles) east of Xiamen and 200km west of coastal Taiwan.

“If you ask me what to do, I suggest that we build a cross-sea bridge linking the airport in Xiamen and Kinmen,” said Ko, head of the Taiwan People’s Party, during a visit to the islet cluster on June 18 to open a committee office for the party.

“This way, at least half of the problems now facing Kinmen, including population, water and power supply and waste disposal could be dealt with.”

A cross-sea bridge under construction in November on Meizhou Bay as part of the Fuzhou-Xiamen high-speed railway, in southeast China’s Fujian Province. Ko has proposed a bridge between Xiamen and Quemoy, the Taiwan islet. Photo: Xinhua

The bridge to the Xiamen airport could also provide an alternative for Quemoy residents seeking to travel abroad, he said. Currently, they must first take domestic flights to Taiwan island to board international carriers.