I would like to drive one of these at 200 mph.
Posted on 03/04/2011 2:11:03 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
China’s High-Speed Rail, Highly Suspect
Mar. 2 2011 - 5:41 pm
By TIM FERGUSON
May we please have a station stop in the slavering over the Chinese high-speed rail program?
China itself is not so enamored, based on the crackdown on officials involved. Here’s the latest from the South China Morning Post on the dismissal of the nation’s Railways Minister and the engineer in charge of the system’s R&D. Seems there were “severe violations of discipline,” which is usually code for corruption. The larger issue with the vast (16,000 kilometers planned by 2020) endeavor is that it isn’t, in fact, so appropriate to China’s needs. Rather, it may be another symptom of a bubble economy in which vast sums are misspent on underutilized assets. (Hmmm…like in the financial whirl of America’s “cowboy capitalism”!)
“The costs are raising worries over financing,” the SCMP reports. “Major state-owned railway and rail car building companies with shares listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai [see China Railway Construction Corp., China Railway Engineering Corp. and subsidiaries ] are relying on bonds and bank loans to finance projects, with onerous repayment obligations that may be difficult to meet given the revenue projections for many projects.” It all stems from the state and the railways ministry has amassed $300 billion in debt.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.forbes.com ...
P!
Listen up, 'Leadership'. . .and stay the course.
I would like to drive one of these at 200 mph.
Mass transit
Because nobody wants to die alone.
China Rail Minister Took Huge Kickbacks: Report
More details are emerging about the corruption case of Liu Zhijun, who was recently removed from his post as Minister of Railways. He is suspected of taking more than 800 million yuan (US$122 million) in bribes, AFP reports:
Liu Zhijun, who was sacked last month, allegedly took payouts for doling out contracts for the rapid expansion of China’s booming high-speed railway system, amounting to up to four percent of each deal, the Global Times said.
Since Liu became rail minister in 2003, China’s spending on high-speed rail construction has skyrocketed, with investment surpassing 700 billion yuan last year, the paper said.
Liu, 58, also had at least 10 mistresses, some of whom worked as actresses, it said.
Liu is the highest-ranking official to be placed under investigation since former Shanghai Communist Party head Chen Liangyu was dismissed in 2006 and later convicted of corruption in a case that highlighted China’s graft problem.
Always nice to see accountability when it comes to high-speed rail, even if only in a Communist country, halfway around the world.
SNORT!
>>It all stems from the state and the railways ministry has amassed $300 billion in debt.<<
I wish Willie Green, the Agenda 21 proponent was here to read this article.
Sounds like a liberal program to me. “Let’s go nowhere faster!”
Oh, he’s watching....aren’t ya bud?
Convicted corrupt officials in China receive capital(death) punishment right?
Fine. But just remember to keep both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.
≤}B^)
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