dagblog - Comments for "World's biggest building project aims to make China great again "

Both very good comments PP. I

artappraiser — Mon, 15 May 2017 09:27:50 +0000

Both very good comments PP. I just don't have a lot to add. Nod, nod on this whole thing especially lots of standard fare Chinese high rises and big squares and orthogonal layouts.....the whole "culture killing" thing, pave paradise and put up a parking lot...throw in "central planning" even if not commie, many still rue the legacy of small-ish regional equivalents like Robert Moses...

but mostly what pops into my mind is "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way"

Clueless deceptive articles

PeraclesPlease — Sun, 14 May 2017 23:27:34 +0000

In reply to NYTimes' Business Day on same

Clueless deceptive articles that ignore the damage that's been done with Han expansionism and despoiling natural beauty whether the Karakorum, Laos, Pakistan... There's no mention of past projects, nor more than a brief scribble over displacing Uyghurs to claim every place a Chinaman's walked or sailed as part of China. What seems like could pull together cultures ignores China's treatment of Tibet and Xinjiang, shutting down the speaking of native languages and ignoring the rights of people who've long been there, instead creating multiple Disneylands connected by rail for the amusement of Chinese tourists.

Why no mention of how well the Qinghai line (opened in 2006) has helped Tibet?

Critics of the railway, including exiled Tibetans and rights groups, say it has spurred an influx of long-term migrants who threaten Tibetans’ cultural integrity, which rests on Buddhist beliefs and a traditional herding lifestyle.

From the Economist:

From The Economist:The resentment it created among Tibetans, who felt excluded from the new jobs, was a big cause of rioting in Lhasa in 2008 that ignited protests across the plateau. The new line will cut through some of the most restive areas. Since 2011 more than 110 Tibetans are reported to have killed themselves by setting themselves on fire in protest at China’s crackdown after the unrest.

Gone so swimmingly they approved a new line from Chengdu (Sichuan) to Lhasa in 2016 to open in 5 years, though they may actually complete early. Sure, a cookie-cutter model to carry to the rest of the world - what could go wrong?

Ah, Tashkurgan - nothing

PeraclesPlease — Sun, 14 May 2017 17:55:00 +0000

In reply to World's biggest building project aims to make China great again

Ah, Tashkurgan - nothing illustrates the complex conflicted intricacies of progress like the Million Man Army doing morning exercises to The Sounds of the Seventies Whistled piped through the whole town at 6am. I still can't hear "Feelings" without breaking into laughter.

Other than that, turning the desert around Kashgar into rice paddies and destroying the winding passageways of the old city with lots of standard fare Chinese high rises and big squares and orthogonal layouts and simply enough concrete to build several reactors gives an idea how unattractive this approach may be to countries that aren't occupied. Ditto for Urumqi and Lhasa, et al. Combine that with heavy immigration of Han Chinese, and it will be as welcome as Republicans welcome Mexicans or China welcomed Tamerlane. Even payoff money can't cover up the reality of an invasion. And China's been doing so well in international policy up to now.

NYTimes' Business Day on same

artappraiser — Sun, 14 May 2017 08:35:59 +0000

In reply to World's biggest building project aims to make China great again

NYTimes' Business Day on same:

Behind China’s $1 Trillion Plan to Shake Up the Economic Order

By Jane Perlez & Yufan Huangmay from VANG VIENG, Laos, May 13

and then there's Boomberg:

Xi Opens China Globalization Forum With $78 Billion Pledge May 14

Belt and Road Forum in Beijing is first dedicated to plan
Russia’s Putin, Turkey’s Erdogan back China-led initiative