Chinese environmental regulators have ordered a halt to construction of a planned bullet train line in a new sign Beijing might be scaling back ambitious plans for its showcase high-speed rail system.
High-speed rail is a prestige project for the communist government to showcase China’s technological prowess and rising prosperity, but its multibillion-dollar plans have prompted complaints they are too costly for a nation where many still live in poverty.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection said on Wednesday that construction of a line linking Tianjin east of Beijing with the coastal city of Qinhuangdao to the northeast must stop because it lacks required environmental approval.
Phone calls to the Railway Ministry press office yesterday were not answered.
Official plans call for the high-speed network to grow to 13,000km of track this year and 16,000km by 2020.
The government signaled a possible shift in attitude when state media began airing criticism early this year. The official who was the public face of high-speed rail, the former railway minister, was fired in February in a graft probe, prompting suggestions his successor might scale back plans.
Last month, the government announced it would reduce the top speed of its fastest high-speed lines from 350kph to 300kph as of July 1, following warnings about possible safety risks.
It said lower-cost tickets would be made available following complaints many travelers couldn’t afford high-speed rail and regular trains were sold out during the Lunar New Year holiday in February.
Also last month, the environment ministry ordered a high-speed line linking the eastern cities of Qingdao and Jinan to suspend operation until it completes an environmental approval process.
The railway ministry said this month it would invest 745.5 billion yuan (US$115 billion) this year in its operations, including 600 billion yuan on infrastructure. That appeared to contradict earlier news reports that spending would be cut sharply due to concern about the high cost of high-speed rail.
A key project is a 215 billion yuan, 1,318km Beijing-Shanghai line that is due to open next year.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of