Several media reported on March 9 that the latest satellite photos of Google Earth showed that the two military airports closest to Taiwan in Fujian Province, China, including Longtian Airport, which is 170 kilometers away from Taiwan, and Hui’an Airport, which is 190 kilometers away from Taiwan. During the major renovation and expansion, the two airports are used for transition and used for fighter-bombers to station during the war.
Taiwan’s United News Network stated on March 8 that Su Ziyun, Director of “the National Defense Strategy and Resources Research Institute of the National Defense Security Research Institute” of Taiwan, claimed that the expansion of Hui’an and Longtian airports is based on typical Chinese air force bases, with the main features being the main runway and parallel taxiways, which can be used for takeoff and landing when the main runway is damaged; the project is also underway to extend the runway and increase the apron.
Su Ziyun reminded that the two airports will be of special strategic significance as the “Fuzhou-Xiamen High-speed Rail” that is expected to open to traffic in 2022. At that time, the “He-Fu High-speed Railway” connecting the Central Theater Command and the “Jing-Fu High-speed Railway” in the Northern Theater Command will be connected to the “Fuzhou-Xiamen High-speed Railway”. The PLA airborne forces from the Central Theater and the Northern Theater will be able to use high-speed rail for maneuvers, to avoid gathering forces to evade satellites and other strategic intelligence reconnaissance photographs, so as to quickly move to Longtian and Hui’an airports to board and launch surprise attacks on Taiwan, reducing Taiwan’s warning time. Su Ziyun said that the history of war shows that the “lowest expected path” is often the key to subverting the battlefield, and the Taiwan military must be careful.
Former Taiwan Air Force “Deputy Commander” Zhang Yanting claimed that Longtian and Hui’an Airport are very close to Taiwan. In terms of the range of fighter jets, they can appear over Taipei in about 7 minutes after take-off, which can save time, fuel, and troops for “disturbing Taiwan”.
It is worth noting that China’s official media Xinhua News Agency published the “National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline” on February 24, which clarified the transportation network planning from 2021 to 2035, and laid out the main framework of the “National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network.” On the “Schematic”, a “passage” from Fuzhou, Fujian to Taipei is planned.
The above outline proposes that a high-speed rail line will be built from Fuzhou to Taipei. This line is a branch line of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei-Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao main axis. After the completion of this high-speed rail, can be directly from Fuzhou to Taiwan, the straight-line distance between the two places about 250 kilometers, according to the current high-speed rail speed, less than one hour to Taipei.
Some analysts believe that the plan is not just a transportation plan, but implies a timetable for cross-strait reunification.
