Beijing opens mega Central Asian trade tunnel in Xinjiang
China has opened the 22-kilometre-long Tianshan Shengli Tunnel to traffic, completing a key piece of infrastructure on the motorway linking the city of Urumqi to Yuli. The project drastically reduces travel times between northern and southern Xinjiang and strengthens connections to Central Asia as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. The project is part of the development strategy for border regions, but it crosses a territory marked by strong political tensions over human rights violations against the Uyghurs.
Urumqi (AsiaNews) - China has opened the world's longest motorway tunnel in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, completing a strategic infrastructure designed to strengthen internal connections and links to Central Asia.
The 22.13-kilometre-long Tianshan Shengli Tunnel is part of the new Urumqi-Yuli motorway project. It allows travellers to cross the ‘Heavenly Mountains’ range, which stretches between Xinjiang and Kyrgyzstan, in about 20 minutes.
According to Chinese media, the tunnel will halve the travel time between Urumqi, the regional capital, and the city of Korla, reducing the journey from over seven hours to about three and a half hours. The tunnel was officially inaugurated on Friday, after five years of construction, which began in April 2020.
Song Hailiang, president of the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), told state broadcaster CCTV that the project ‘set two world records’. ‘It is the longest motorway tunnel in the world and has the deepest vertical shaft ever built for a road tunnel,’ he said.
The infrastructure crosses the mountains at an altitude of almost 3,000 metres, posing significant engineering challenges. During the construction work, the teams operated in difficult weather conditions, with temperatures dropping to minus 42 degrees, local media reported.
Miao Baodong, chief engineer of CCCC's Xinjiang transport division, explained that using traditional methods, the work would have taken at least ten years. To speed up the process, engineers adopted a strategy called ‘three tunnels plus four shafts,’ using a mechanical cutter designed for drilling hard rock.
According to the authorities, the new link will facilitate the movement of resources within the autonomous region, allowing for a faster flow of energy and manufactured goods from the north and agricultural goods from the south.
The motorway is also intended to strengthen links with Central and South Asia as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, serving as a ‘strategic bridge for opening up to the West,’ CCTV emphasised.
Xinjiang borders eight countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan, and is considered by Beijing to be a key region for trade. Guo Sheng, deputy director of the region's transport department, said the new artery connects several economic corridors, strengthening Xinjiang's role as a “strategic hub” in the “dual circulation” policy, which aims to further integrate the domestic market with foreign trade through land infrastructure.
However, Xinjiang is also home to the Uighur minority, which has long suffered persecution by the Chinese regime. The territory remains at the centre of strong tensions between Beijing and Western countries.
The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions and trade restrictions in response to allegations of human rights violations in the region, allegations that the Chinese government has always rejected.
The Tianshan tunnel is part of a broader strategy of major works in border regions. Beijing is also building a 1,980-kilometre railway line between Hotan in southern Xinjiang and Lhasa in the Tibet Autonomous Region, a project described by the authorities as the “project of the century”, which presents similar engineering challenges and, according to the government, should promote regional integration, transport and national security.
Tibet is also a region that has been occupied by Beijing for decades and where several hydroelectric dams have recently been built to meet China's energy needs.
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28/04/2005
16/11/2020 13:50
