Japan is the only competitor to China's high speed train technology and high speed train projects for countries in the world. And Japan has been competing fiercely with China for high speed train projects in Indonesia, Vietnam and India. Japan won both contracts in India and Vietnam and almost won the project in Indonesia as well. By a stroke of luck, Indonesia chose China and is now the happy owner of a brand new high speed train system from Jakarta to Bandung, completed and ready to roll. The Indonesians has rescheduled the launch of the high speed train to August to coincide with its Independence Day Celebration.
India signed the contract with Japan in the same year but due to some strange reasons, the project is as good as being abandoned. Only 10km of the track has been laid to date. In the case of Vietnam, the situation is quite similar and despite the urgency and appeal to complete the project, Japan has told Vietnam that the completion date would be in 2045! This is as good as telling Vietnam to forget about the project. The Vietnamese could not believe what the Japanese told them. In desperation, the Vietnamese went knocking at China's door to take over the project. India too went to China. Both countries wanted their trains and were frustrated by the big delay. Vietnam has seen the advantages of the Laotian high speed train and now the Indonesian high speed train all ready to go makes them fuming.
What happened to the Japanese for failing to deliver the trains for India and Vietnam? The Japanese have the technology and resources to build the trains but surprisingly nothing really happened. A massive train project would require a lot of engineers, technicians and skilled personnel. And bidding 3 projects at the same time would be a big strain on Japan even if it really wants to build them.
My view, the Japanese have no intention to build any of the trains for India or Vietnam, or for Indonesia in the event that they won the contract. Japan's intent in participating in the bidding for the projects was to act as a spoiler, to prevent China from winning the bids. Their goals are quite similar to the Americans, just to stop China in whatever it was doing, to stop China's growth and progress at all cost. A secondary goal was to bring down the price to prevent China from making decent profit from the projects. With Japan offering another bid, China was forced to bid competitively if it intends to win.
Japan did make China pay a heavy price for winning the Indonesian project with very low returns. But China persevered to complete the project on time to maintain its integrity and honour as a major construction monster. What was unfortunate was for Japan to end up winning the projects in India and Vietnam, projects that Japan had no intent to honour or to deliver. Japan did achieve its objective of depriving China from winning the projects. In a way, both India and Vietnam were also in favour of Japan winning and assisted Japan to become the winner. Japan likely did not bargain for it, did not want the projects.
Well, the rest is history. The two projects in India and Vietnam were non starters. Japan just played along for a while and then simply abandoned both projects to the dismay and anger of India and Vietnam. India and Vietnam trusted Japan as their friends and did not expect to be betrayed by Japan, as pawns in Japan's fight against China. They were both sacrificed by the cunning and selfish Japanese. This is the price rogues had to pay for having rogues as friends.
By a stroke of good fortune, Indonesia was saved from becoming Japan's sacrificial lamb and now smiling as the proud owner of SE Asia's first high speed train. Karma works in a mysterious way. The evil ones are now licking their wounds for dancing with the devil Japan. Good riddance. Japan did not care or feel any remorse for playing out India and Vietnam in its anti China plan.
10 comments:
China should not take over those abandoned HSR projects by Japan in India and Vietnam. Being left languishing for years, you can imagine the condition of the partly completed project rusting away in the meantime, which will present problems. Perhaps the Japanese are setting up a time bomb just to make China's HSR reputation bite the dust if China falls into the trap set in India and Vietnam.
Any undesirable problems arising from the takeover if it happens, will be blamed on China, and you know the Indians are waiting for any opportunity to tarnish the image of China for any shortcomings later on. Remember, the Indians are towing the USA line, being a member of the QUAD. The purpose of the QUAD is specifically to target China. Moreover the Indians, as history shows, will make all kinds of accusations just to prevent paying for it or asking for massive compensations, just like what they did to Xiaomi. China must avoid at all cost about taking over the HSR projects behind enemy lines. China should just concentrate on improving Africa, Central Asia, and Latin and Central America.
Vietnam is not to be trusted either. Not by a long shot. That it choose Japan despite all the help China gave them during the Vietnam War is testament to helping a snake in times of trouble and getting bitten instead. India and Vietnam are distinctly closer to Japan, which is a vassal state of the USA, than to China, and China must always remember the brutal truth that the friend of my enemy is also my enemy.
On another issue, South Koreans are stocking up on salt, fearing the effect of the release of the Fukushima contaminated waste water into the ocean. Rightly, they should be afraid. The IAEA appears noncholant in its approach over the release, probably bribed by Japan. If the IAEA says it is safe to do so, it must be, or so everybody thinks. But not the South Korean public and people in China.
World bodies of every shape and size are not to be trusted in their behavior vis a vis the UN, WHO, ICC, IAEA, human rights etc. In fact any body with the USA as a member calling the shots, or controlling it like those NGOS with funding cannot be trusted to be transparent.
For safety, it is best to avoid seafood and food products from Japan and South Korea. Do not trust the behavior of the IAEA or the assurances of the Japanese minister who claimed the treated water are even safe for drinking. Did he drink it himself? Why waste the water by dumping it into the ocean instead of releasing it into their reserviors? He is blatantly lying. This should tell us what he is not revealing to us.
Agree. Going forward, China should do business with India on a cash out front basis. Pay first then deliver.
All Chinese companies in India should close down and pull out of India. India can still buy Chinese products from China on COD.
India thoroughly deserves it for licking Japan's anus . .
Just like construction business. Back in the late 90s early 2000, it was dominated by Japanese & Koreans. Both were fighting for prestige & honour.
Today, Chinese firms virtually dominate. Koreans & Japanese expensive & Chinese quality just as good for cheaper. But the Chinese really bring a boatload of Chinese construction workers with them.
Building high speed trains is not a job for untrained and unskilled workers. And speed is also important. Want to do it fast, safe and to work efficiently, you cannot have untrained and unskilled workers.
If countries want China to train and use local workers, then they would need to wait 20 years for completion like what Japan told Vietnam, 2045.
China can build a train station in 24 hours.
Of what use is high speed train using low speed construction? In the USA, they need to take ages to get approval to do something, by which time China already completed the same undertaking and trains are already up and running. The same with India, where bureaucracy, bribes and horse trading takes so much time to get over, that it took decades to get the project done upon first talking about it.
2045 is as good as telling the Vietnamese you are conned big time. India is alright with that as the country is used to bullock cart speed in everything, except making babies.
China should not help India after all India already a superpower AIAI, no Ned China help
Its proven beyond any doubt that the Chinese COMMUNIST system is the BEST for getting projects done, as whole of society effort can be mustered effortlessly. This is very unlike the messy corrupted democracy of India where more than 40 percent of members of the Indian parliament have criminal charges of rape, corruption and murder pending against them.
If you put two communist parties with total control quietly under the CCP behind in China, hold elections and have one of them in power alternately, does it make a difference? Both have to listen to the CCP, just like the Republicans and Democrats being controlled by the Deep State.
Of course the USA and the West would still say it is not democratic, as in Hong Kong. So, China should just ignore the USA, whatever is being said, and do what is right.
The biggest slap on the face of the USA seems to be the progress made by China under communism, and the fear of the USA being overtaken by a communist country that they had, over the centuries, shown no respect and looked down as a basket case of laundrymen and cooks.
That China is on the verge of overtaking them now is a very uncomfortable and undesirable overturning of the status quo. The USA finds it totally unable to handle the truth. It has to find ways and means to put China down. The reality is that using the Iraq formula of fabrication of evidence is not going to work anymore. Fabricating balloongate, national security issues against Huawei, DJI, BYD, Tik Tok are not working. Chip sanctions is the latest and only last resort short of arm conflict to be used, but is backfiring badly.
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