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  • On this episode of China Uncensored,

  • China wants to build the world's longest underwater tunnel

  • to a country that it doesn't even recognize as a country.

  • Hi, welcome back to China Uncensored.

  • I'm your host, Chris Chappell.

  • Authoritarian regimes sure come up with the craziest schemes.

  • Like China's canal designed to transport billions of gallons of water

  • all the way from the south of the country to the north,

  • losing most of it to evaporation,

  • and wrecking ecosystems in the process.

  • That one was Chairman Mao's idea.

  • Or China's plans to build a giant city so big,

  • it's bigger than the entire population of England and France combined.

  • Just kidding they're not building “a” megacity.

  • They're building 19 of them.

  • And now Chinese engineers want to build

  • the world's longest underwater train tunnel.

  • Kind of like the Channel Tunnel,

  • that connects England and France.

  • Only much longer.

  • And less of a mutually agreed-upon decision.

  • Because, according to the South China Morning Post,

  • Chinese scientists are planning the world's longest train tunnel...

  • to connect mainland China to Taiwan.

  • Rumor has it, the Chinese Communist Party absolutely adores the plan!

  • So much so, in fact,

  • they're ready to start planning without Taiwan's cooperation.

  • Researchers told the South China Morning Post that

  • it's possible Beijing would start work on the project

  • in a unilateral and largely symbolic move.”

  • The 84-mile Taiwan Strait Tunnel

  • would link Pingtan in Mainland China...

  • ...to Hsinchu in Taiwan.

  • And yes, Hsinchu happens to be where Taiwan has an army base

  • where forces train hard to prepare for an aggressive,

  • unannounced visit by the People's Liberation Army.

  • Otherwise known as an invasion.

  • So there's a good chance that Taiwan might react negatively

  • if members of a Chinese tunnel drilling team start to

  • pop up out of the ground unannounced.

  • But due to engineering constraints, a tunnel this long

  • could probably never be completed without digging from both ends.

  • And when Taiwan's Minister Chen Min-tong,

  • who's responsible for relations between Taiwan and the mainland,

  • got wind that the plans for the tunnel were ready and the CCP

  • was anxious to break ground,

  • he immediately denounced the project,

  • sayingThe proposal is part of China's consistent

  • united front propaganda and was made unilaterally.”

  • Chen also said there had not been any bilateral

  • communication between China and Taiwan on the subject,

  • much less any kind of agreement.

  • But from the Communist Party's perspective,

  • an agreement isn't really necessary

  • although it would make things go much smoother.

  • That's because the Party considers Taiwan

  • a province of the People's Republic of China,

  • and has vowed to seize control of it sooner or later,

  • by force if necessary.

  • Actually Chinese president Xi Jinping has ordered

  • the People's Liberation Army to be ready

  • for an invasion of Taiwan by 2020.

  • No wonder Taiwan is a bit suspicious of this underwater tunnel.

  • The Taiwanese minister also said that by proposing the tunnel,

  • China wasattacking Taiwan's potential for international space

  • using militaristic intimidation and trying to mislead the public

  • into thinking that this was a bilateral decision.”

  • But even if Taiwan okayed the tunnel,

  • the project could still be fraught with some of the same problems

  • that have plagued China's own rail system.

  • Like the massive corruption that caused the Communist Party

  • to have to dissolve and restructure THE ENTIRE RAILWAYS MINISTRY.

  • And also, give the railways minister a suspended death sentence

  • for taking 10 million dollars in bribes.

  • But even if the tunnel is built without corruption,

  • it could still end up like some of

  • China's other grand-scale planning ideas

  • that disregarded the realities of the natural environment.

  • Like the Three-Gorges Dam

  • the world's largest hydro-powered project,

  • that displaced 1.3 million people,

  • and is causing landslides,

  • droughts,

  • oh, and earthquakes.

  • Did I mention earthquakes?

  • A Chinese scientist

  • who asked not to be named because who in their right mind

  • would put their name on this plan

  • said the underwater tunnel would need to cross not one,

  • but two earthquake fault lines.

  • The scientist called the tunnel one of themost challenging

  • civil engineering projects in the 21st century.”

  • And that's because in addition to cutting across

  • two earthquake fault lines,

  • the tunnel has to slice through complex layers of rock,

  • including extremely hard granite sandwiched between layers

  • of far less stable sandstone and shale.

  • But even if they got it to work

  • without an earthquake getting in the way,

  • there's another engineering problem.

  • The tunnel is too long to pump air through.

  • So China would have to build not one but two artificial islands

  • in the Taiwan Strait, to pump fresh air down into the tunnel.

  • Fortunately, the Chinese regime

  • is good at building artificial islands.

  • Unfortunately, I think the Taiwan government might

  • object to building islands off the coast of Taiwan.

  • But even if Taiwan okays the artificial islands,

  • and the tunnel is built without massive corruption,

  • and it doesn't cause earthquakes,

  • there's another reason it might not be a great idea.

  • Remember how China has threatened to invade Taiwan,

  • if Taiwan ever declares independence?

  • Well, you know what's a really easy way to move tanks?

  • Trains!

  • Looks like there might be some wide loads coming through.

  • And before you go, it's time for me to answer another question

  • from a fan who supports China Uncensored

  • on the crowdfunding website Patreon.

  • James McKay asks: “Hi, Shelly.”

  • Ugh, this one's for Shelley?!

  • When you travel together,

  • who is considered your "carry on":

  • Chris or Matt?

  • Will you elaborate on how you stretch the team's

  • (likely very modest) travel and accommodation budget?”

  • Shelley, do you want to answer this one?

  • Sure Chris.

  • James, if any of us was the carry on, it would be me.

  • But I don't really want to be stuck in

  • an overhead compartment at 35,000 feet,

  • so I usually buy my own plane ticket.

  • How do we stretch our travel budget?

  • We try to get sponsorship for everything.

  • Airlines, as you might guess,

  • don't really want to sponsor anyone who undermines the CCP.

  • But we had a hotel sponsor us in Taiwan.

  • Otherwise, we usually stay in an airBNB or in someone's home.

  • We also borrow our camera gear from our friends whenever we can.

  • And if people take us out to dinner while we're on the road,

  • we don't complain.

  • Especially if it's hotpot.

  • Just saying.

  • Thanks Shelley.

  • Want to have your questions answered on the show?

  • Of course you do!

  • Join the China Uncensored 50-Cent Army,

  • by supporting the show with a dollar or more per episode

  • on the crowdfunding website Patreon.

  • And yes, you can ask Shelley questions, too.

  • The link is below.

  • Once again, I'm Chris Chappell.

  • Thanks for watching China Uncensored.

  • Thanks for watching.

  • Did you know we also make

  • a half-hour version of this show every week?

  • It's broadcast on the NTD network

  • in New York, LA, and San Francisco.

  • Plus you can it on our free app for Amazon FireTV,

  • Apple TV, and Roku.

  • Or visit ChinaUncensored.tv.

On this episode of China Uncensored,

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Underwater Tunnel China Could Use to Invade Taiwan

  • 10 3
    zijun su に公開 2021 年 04 月 23 日
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