Xi Jinping opens world’s largest sea crossing between HK, Macau and mainland

China’s President Xi Jinping attends the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge at the Zhuhai Port terminal on October 23, 2018. – China’s President Xi Jinping launched the world’s longest sea bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China on October 23 at a time when Beijing is tightening its grip on its semi-autonomous territories. (Photo by FRED DUFOUR / AFP)
China’s President Xi Jinping attends the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge at the Zhuhai Port terminal on October 23, 2018. – China’s President Xi Jinping launched the world’s longest sea bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China on October 23 at a time when Beijing is tightening its grip on its semi-autonomous territories. (Photo by FRED DUFOUR / AFP)

It’s open.

The world’s longest sea crossing, a 55 kilometer-long bridge and underwater tunnel link between Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China was officially inaugurated by Chinese president Xi Jinping at a ceremony this morning.

The event was held at the newly built immigration facilities in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, where the megastructure, first started in 2009, joins the mainland after snaking across and under the waters of the Pearl River estuary.

Some 700 guests attended, reported the SCMP, including several senior Chinese officials.

Via hzmb.gov.hk

Among them, Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng, who touted the economic benefits of tying Hong Kong closer with Guangdong province, as part of broader plans to develop China’s “Greater Bay Area” into a technology and business hub.

Open to selected traffic on Wednesday, the six-lane carriageway slashes travel times between the cities, previously separated by an hour-long ferry ride or three to four-hour journey by car — to a 30-45 minute drive.

But while no doubt an engineering marvel — the 6.7 kilometer underwater tunnel section connects to the 22.9 kilometer main bridge section via two artificial islands — the bridge has encountered more than its share of troubled waters.

As well as being two years behind schedule, budget blowouts, environmental concerns, a corruption scandal and several workplace deaths have marred the project, which critics have called a politically driven “white elephant.”

Its opening comes at a time Beijing is tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city, adding further to anxieties about what “integration” means for its special status and protected freedoms.

“Hong Kong has always been connected to mainland China by air, by sea, by rail, by everything,” pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo told Coconuts HK.

“They decided they must have this particular bridge because one, it’s a grand project, and two, it’s so visible it’s almost like a psychological weapon to remind Hongkongers that you can see it.

“The whole thing’s a political exercise, a very glamorous political exercise to show not just the world, but especially to Hong Kong people, that Hong Kong’s part of China now that you’re even more linked to the motherland.”

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge during construction.
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge during construction.

Critics also question whether it will eventually attract the expected traffic — forecasted cross-bridge trips have already been reduced — and justify its hefty price tag.

While the main bridge is estimated to have cost some RMB 48.07 billion (US$6.9 billion), additional infrastructure on the Hong Kong side means the city’s government has plowed some HK120 billion (US$15.3 billion) overall into the project, according to documents submitted to Legco.

It is the second major infrastructure project tying Hong Kong to mainland China to launch in a matter of weeks, after the opening of a high-speed rail link last month that sparked considerable controversy by allowing Chinese security officials to enforce mainland law in a section of the West Kowloon terminus.

The main bridge section is considered mainland territory and Hong Kong cars and drivers travelling over it “must comply with the laws and regulations of the mainland,” according to the city’s transport department.

Hong Kong residents will only be granted a licence to cross into Zhuhai by car if they meet highly selective criteria, including holding certain mainland government positions or making major contributions to charities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.

Most people will need to travel the bridge via bus.




The idea for a bridge spanning the estuary dates back to the 1980s, well before China’s rapid economic rise, when Hong Kong businessman Sir Gordon Wu promoted the project as essential for the then-British colony’s future.

After being repeatedly shelved, researcher Linda Tjia said the plans got traction in Hong Kong following the 1997 handover largely because of fears of being economically marginalized by fast-growing mainland cities.

She added that while Beijing’s push to integrate the region “makes sense logically,” its “top down” approach faced difficulties.

China’s official narrative is the that scheme aims to turn Hong Kong, Macau and nine Guangdong province cities into a massive megacity cluster — a technology and business hub to rival San Francisco, New York and Tokyo — with better transport an important a pillar of a plan the government hopes will boost economic growth and tourism.

Dr Tjia noted that, whereas bay areas in the United States and Japan grew mostly organically, integrating China’s semi-autonomous special administrative regions with their distinct political, legal and financial systems was highly politicized, leading to popular resistance.

“This kind of infrastructure is the hardware,” Dr Tjia , an assistant professor at City University of Hong Kong who studies China’s infrastructure-led development, told Coconuts HK.

“Even if it is in play, you need the software to get it up and going so it becomes organic. The software is the people.”

As for the Hong Kong government, independent political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-Siu said they faced a tense balancing act.

While seeking the advantages of closer integration to stave of the decline of the city’s economic relevance compared to fast-growing mainland cities, it still had a duty to protest the interests of its residents.

“Whether or not Hong Kong can survive, or sustain our interests, it is my concern, and the concern is becoming greater and greater,” Lau told Coconuts HK.

“Of course, I appreciate the contribution to the economy of both sides, the Greater Bay Project… can also be an advantage to Hong Kong, but how the Hong Kong government can serve the greatest interests of the Hong Kong people… whether they have the intentions of protecting Hong Kong’s interests, that is the main question.”

With AFP



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