C. Raja Mohan
Indian Express | May 7, 2014
On his first visit to Africa this week, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang
has once again underlined the importance of high-speed railways in
Beijing’s diplomacy. From America to Asia and Europe to Africa, Chinese
leaders are offering technology, finance and project management in the
construction of high-speed rail networks. In Addis Ababa on Monday, the
first stop in a four-nation tour of what he called the “continent of
hope”, Li outlined a plan to connect all major African cities through a
high-speed railway network. The project is at the heart of a new
framework for Sino-African partnership that Li elaborated upon in his
address to the African Union in Addis Ababa.
In talking about the “Chinese dream” for a continent-wide railway in
Africa, Li was not playing with words. He was invoking China’s enduring
romance with railways. Sun Yat Sen, who led Beijing’s first republic in
the early 20th century, believed railways would modernise and unite
China. Sun’s rail strategy was not limited to the borders of China; he
wanted to extend Chinese railroads to India, the Middle East and Africa.
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