China’s grand plans to develop into Southeast Asia’s high-speed rail powerhouse are underway through its Belt and Road initiative. Although there are some obstacles, his ambitions seem quite real. It may very well be said that its dream of becoming a high-speed rail powerhouse could start in Southeast Asia.
This assessment will not be an exaggeration, considering the recent move by Chinese road authorities. First of all, China Railway Group Limited (CREC), considered one of China’s largest state-owned firms, is making every effort to win the contract signed on Tuesday to construct the high-speed rail project between Malaysia and Singapore. Taking under consideration the reports from July 21 this 12 months Xinhua News and other state media, it is sort of certain that China will win this project. This is because China has made enormous efforts over the past three years and is confident that it could beat 98 other competitors from several countries, including Japan and Korea. In fact, CREC is more likely to win the bid given the atmosphere on site.
The recent start of construction on a 417-kilometer high-speed rail project that can connect China’s Yunnan province with the Lao capital, Vientiane, is one other example showing that China’s ambition to develop into a high-speed rail power in Southeast Asia will not be only a dream. The railway is scheduled to open after five years. Moreover, the China-Thailand railway project, which has recently gained momentum, is more likely to get back heading in the right direction after China’s aggressive overtures. This implies that China’s high-speed rail network stretching over 3,000 kilometers from Yunnan to Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore is possible. In this case, China could develop into the high-speed rail power in Southeast Asia and even complete the fundamental plan of the Belt and Road initiative. Ultimately, the Chinese railway may very well be connected to Europe.
Of course, there are some obstacles. The biggest of those is efforts by the United States and Japan to curb China’s ambitions to dominate high-speed rail. Along with Korea, Japan participates in just about all tenders for projects promoted by Southeast Asian countries with the intention to drag China down. We also needs to not ignore concerns about Chinese technology. The reality is well reflected within the recent withdrawal of Chinese metro trains from Singapore. Chinese train manufacturer CSR Sifang tried to secretly send faulty Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) trains back to China for repairs, but this was immediately exposed to the surface world. While China should overcome this weakness, the country is extremely more likely to develop into a high-speed rail powerhouse in Southeast Asia.
Source: huffingtonpost.com
