I'm guessing that by the time they're done, California high-speed rail will still not be completed haha.
lol that's pretty much a given
hyperloop moment
which one, the nircal or socal one, or the socal to vegas one.
norcal to socal one is in limbo due to cost and farmers, socal to vegas one is federally funded (because interstate) and travels through a desert so there would be very little challenges when it comes to land disputes for that train.
So 6 years to project start. Then just a few more years for completion. All in we are looking to a decade out for project completion +/- a few years.
Meanwhile, in Canada they can't even get a timeline or funding for a single line on the most obvious corridor. And the second most obvious corridor has no timelines, and is only a study of feasibility at this time.
So 6 years to project start. Then just a few more years for completion. All in we are looking to a decade out for project completion +/- a few years.
And to think, this is outright slow compared to internal Chinese infrastructure projects. Meanwhile in the US we'd kill someone to get some basic infrastructure built in under a decade.
Canada is utterly incapable of building infrastructure, Toronto took over a decade to build a LRT line around Eglinton, and then then found out that the rail width was slightly off so the line is still not operational.
I have bros who are reds in Venezuela, and they keep complaining that the government won't take the step from non-Imperial Core "Marea Rosada" socdem into actual socialism because they're terrified of being invaded and wrecked, Cuba is great but the material reality is that they simply do not have the funds to truly protect anyone but themselves. Vietnam is geographically blessed that they can have the space to get back onto the road of socialism after their stumbling in 1994 and 2001 having to "restructure their economy" (give in to liberalism) due to taking out loans with the IMF. Their future seems bright if they can forge a particularly strong relationship with the PRC. I'm sure they can crush the Yankee war machine a second time, but I understand 1000% why they're traumatized.
For sure, and I really hope China will start actively supporting socialist states around it now. Before the war in Ukraine started, China used to play it very safe geopolitically because they were always worried that US would go after their economy. Now they see how Russia managed to do just fine after a maximalist sanction regime from the west, and they can also see that US is actively and openly trying to kneecap them regardless of what they do at this point. So, the reasons behind the reservations China had before about promoting socialism aren't really there now.
While it made sense for China not to export ideology the way USSR did when the west was dominant, I think we're entering a period where building an ideologically aligned bloc is starting to look like the right approach. US has demonstrated that they're very good at doing political interference, and if China wants to have strong and stable allied then it has to start helping support principled socialist governments.
China has one enormous weakness it can not yet be bold in the ways Russia is. Oil/Petrol.
The PRC is not oil-rich in the same way Russia and the US are, so they import most of their oil via tankers from West Asia/North Africa (commonly known as the Middle East) and there are two potential chokepoints, the Straight of Hormuz in Djibouti (probably RIGHT NOW the biggest weak point, so much that both China and the US have military bases there that are practically in front of each other) and the South China Sea, which contains a bunch of faithful bootlicking nations such as Singapore and Australia.
China is working on several pipeline projects, but I am certain that the US is doing everything possible to stop it.
That is true, but going forward China can get oil from Russia and Iran. Also worth noting that China's nuclear and renewable energy production is accelerating. Meanwhile, China has a huge amount of leverage over the west economically right now because lots of western companies are dependent on manufacturing in China. If the west tried to interfere with China's oil supply then China can crash western economies which are in an incredibly fragile state already.
The relationship between these two bordering countries will be most interesting to see, particularly heading more into the future as Vietnam continues to modernize and China as well. Like a mini experiment of communism, or the future of borders and how they will change or blur.
Also, DPRK might start becoming a bigger player now that sanctions regime has effectively failed.
Does no one remember Laos?
Either way, the more the better!
They really do fly under the radar, as I recall China's also helping them build rail though while clearing out all the remnants of US bombings. So, things are really looking up there as well. I imagine once there's a big rail network connecting them all, there's going to be a big economic boom.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and a vital source of imports for its manufacturing sector.
The other would run from Hanoi to Lang Son province, which borders China's Guangxi region, passing through an area densely populated with global manufacturing facilities, including some owned by Chinese investors.
A massive high-speed railway line linking capital Hanoi with business hub Ho Chi Minh City is also being planned in the country.
Vietnam's National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue met executives of Chinese railway companies on Monday during his ongoing visit to Beijing, where he was hosted by President Xi Jinping.
This came after Vietnam and China signed dozens of cooperation agreements, including on railways, during a visit to Hanoi by Xi in December.
The two countries remain embroiled in a yearslong maritime dispute in the South China Sea, though the tensions appear to have calmed recently.
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