What Happened: Thailand’s public railway company is expected to sign a public-private partnership on Oct. 25 for a 220-kilometer (137-mile) high-speed rail project worth $7.5 billion linking airports to five provinces under the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), The Thaiger reported Oct. 15. The project will move forward under a consortium led by a Thai company but which will also include Chinese state-owned China Railway Construction Corp. and China Resources Group, as well as the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, among others.
Why It Matters: The railway, which provides an opportunity for Japan and China to cooperate on big-ticket infrastructure projects, comes as Thailand is looking to expand its rail infrastructure under the EEC. China is building a separate rail link through Thailand to link its southwestern provinces to Southeast Asia.
Background: As part of its Belt and Road Initiative, China has been delivering significant investments for infrastructure projects across Southeast Asia, prompting concerns among Japanese policymakers, who fear that Beijing is rivaling Tokyo’s status as a patron for regional projects.
Interesting. Japan and China can cooperate on massive infrastructure projects like this while our own Congress can’t even pass a budget or use the money that we all pay to improve highways… to actually improve highways.
Exactly. While the US is presently occupied bombing seven countries, killing people and destroying property, China is building infrastructure and mostly improving the lives of people around the world.
China is only able to do those things because they steal intellectual property and manipulate their currency. They should be bombed into oblivion, not praised.
Nope, that’s not the only way that China is able to build infrastructure all over the world. And furthermore, if China is stealing IP, it’s not the egregious crime of bombing the hell out of countries like the US does non stop.
And that’s not going to happen either. Due to that type of arrogance and cockiness, it’s more likely that that will be America’s future. Unless someone like Rand Paul or Tulsi Gabbard we’re to be elected taking USFP in a new and positive direction.
