TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan is monitoring whether Beijing’s new economic blueprint will include attempts to assert control over its frontline islands, Reuters reported Thursday.
The Chinese Communist Party is set to conclude a closed-door plenum on Thursday, to discuss the country’s 15th five-year plan. It will launch next year and be unveiled in detail at March’s National People’s Congress.
Two senior Taiwanese officials told Reuters that Taipei is watching for signs the plan could promote “economic integration” with Kinmen, which lies just a few kilometers off China’s Fujian coast. They warned that such inclusion could amount to Beijing seeking de facto jurisdiction over the island.
Beijing has long used incentives and intimidation toward Kinmen. It sends coast guard vessels into its waters while offering perks such as fuel, power, and water supplies to strengthen economic links. Many Kinmen residents also have family and business ties with China’s Xiamen, which is a short ferry ride away.
One senior Taiwanese security official said any move by Beijing to list Kinmen in its development plan could shift the nature of cross-strait tensions. “It would no longer just be a sovereignty issue but a contest over jurisdiction,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A regional official studying the issue added that the strategy could allow China to expand its unification agenda under the guise of “shared economic development.” Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said it would not comment until Beijing releases policy details from the plenum.
Kinmen Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) said Beijing has repeatedly expressed interest in deeper integration but warned that sovereignty “cannot be compromised.”
“Kinmen belongs to Taiwan,” she said. “This is beyond doubt.”
Taiwan has also voiced concern over China’s bridge construction project to Kinmen, not yet approved by Taipei, as well as a new airport in Xiamen due to open next year. Officials say the airport poses national security risks, with one warning that “if they dare to invade Kinmen, we will become the next Crimea.”
