New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman constantly praises all things Chinese – their economy, their political system, their remarkable achievements, everything.
Unfortunately, one of the nation’s newest “glory projects” turned into a “glory hole” two days after it was opened.
The Telegraph UK tells the tale of the road to ruin:
A Chinese motorway has collapsed just two days after it opened, causing the deaths of two people, after builders were ordered to rush the project so it could be unveiled for the 90th birthday of the Communist party.
The 57-mile-long Xinsan motorway, through the mountains of Yunnan, was supposed to be a perfect example of how the Communist party has rolled out pristine infrastructure to even the most remote areas of China, creating economic prosperity.
Despite warnings from the construction team in charge of the project, it was included in the list of “glory projects” to be unveiled for the party’s 90th anniversary on July 1.
Huge banners were slung on the cliffs above the road, reminding its builders: “Work hard, work quickly, we have 60 days left”.
But how could this be? The problems with this highway are surely an anomaly, because we all know that the Chinese record of success is unmatched anywhere in the world today.
The motorway is only one of a number of major projects which were rushed through to meet the deadline.
The 820-mile Beijing-to-Shanghai high-speed railway, open to the public for only eleven days, yesterday (SUN) saw trains stalled for two hours after an electrical failure.
Back in the 1980s Hedrick Smith, Moscow Bureau Chief for the New York Times, who lived in the Soviet Union for many years, wrote a best-selling book called The Russians.
The basic premise of the book was that the whole Soviet success was a sham and that despite outward appearances it was a nation destined to fail. Everything was shoddily manufactured and fell apart almost as soon as it rolled off the assembly line. He extended that line of thinking to the USSR’s military and space program and theorized that the West had very little reason to fear this corrupt communist cabal.
In other words, no matter what your read and no matter what you hear, nothing in Communist countries is as advertised by the Western media.
Perhaps Thomas Friedman should pick up a copy of The Russians.
Source: Telegraph UK
This post was last modified on July 13, 2011
View Comments (15)
More people are going to die, when the executions begin. The project engineer is probably scheduled first.
"The basic premise of the book was that the whole Soviet success was a sham and that despite outward appearances it was a nation destined to fail."
That's probably the book where Barack Obama gets all his wonderful "ideas" from.
that's why I think it's wonderful that from now on we'll have to rely on the Russians to go into outer space and visit the space station. They really know how to build things those Russians.
Opps , Wonder If People are Going to hold Their Breath , when Going Over The San Fransisco's , " Made In China " Bay Bridge ?
One glaring omission with the Russian comparison:
Their space program is still up and running as Barry closes ours down.
90th birthday of the communist party..hhmmm...makes me think they should have thrown out the baby and kept the afterbirth.
I cannot laugh because people died, but if no one died, I would be laughing so hard right now.
This is what happens when you use plaster of paris instead of concrete!
You mean melamine, don't you?
The substance of the universe! Used in every single industry in China.
Hey, the news guy is just doing what his communist masters tell him to do. Its not like a useful idiot has any brains or ability to actually think.
Friedman must be going nuts!
I'm sure he can blame it on Bush....