#China Railway International

[uniqueeval]

How Mexico is winning the trade war between the U.S. and China

A freight train carries cargo shipping containers in the El Paso Sector along the US-Mexico border between New Mexico and Chihuahua state on December 9, 2021 in Sunland Park, New Mexico. Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images New data shows a surge in trade between China and Mexico at a time of tough tariff talk during the presidential campaign. Customs data shows a significant increase in raw…

[rhk111sblog]

Three Countries (Japan, South Korea and India) will try to replace China’s funding of three Railway Projects in the Philippines worth a total of Usd 5 billion. Meanwhile, the last Project that the United States (US) and their Filipino Doggies managed to kick China out of, the Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) Project, is yet to make a Groundbreaking and is already at least three Years late

[nepalenergyforum]

Forging Friendships on the Tracks: The China-Nepal Railway Project Strengthens Bonds Beyond Borders

Before assuming the role of the Nepalese ambassador to China, Bishnu Pukar Shrestha enjoyed an extensive career in education and human rights. This background provides him with a unique lens through which he views international matters. When discussing the Belt and Road Initiative, he emphasized its deep philosophical significance, evoking the historical importance of the ancient Silk Road.…

[fatehbaz]

A devastating rail crash that left almost 300 people dead has refocused international attention on the importance of railways in the lives of Indians.

Indeed, to many Western observers, images of men and women crammed into overcrowded cars serve as a metaphor for modern India. Take, for example, a report by German newspaper Der Spiegel on India’s population surpassing China’s. Published just weeks before the accident in Odisha province on June 2, the now much-criticized cartoon depicted a shabby Indian train crammed with passengers rushing past a streamlined Chinese train with only two people in it.

Where does this enduring image in the West of Indian railways – and of India – come from? As a scholar of Indian history and author of 2015 book “Tracks of Change: Railways and Everyday Life in Colonial India,” I believe the answers lie in the gigantic infrastructure projects of the 19th century – forged at the intersection of colonial dictates and capitalist demands.

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A carrier of freight, not people

Railways remain the backbone of passenger traffic in India, transporting some 23 million people daily. In the pre-pandemic 2018-19 financial year, 7.7 billion passenger journeys in India. [...] Yet, when first planned in the 1840s, India’s railways were intended to primarily transport freight and livestock, not people. Indians were thought unlikely to become railway passengers by directors of the English East India Co., a merchant monopoly that gradually annexed and administered large parts of India under U.K. crown control. [...] However, early colonial railway policy was driven by pervasive Orientalist imaginings of a people rendered immobile by poverty, living in isolated villages [...]. The trope interlocked with colonial thinking that railways would foster greater industrialization which in turn would further a capitalist economy. They also aligned with the practical needs of a colonial trading monopoly which needed raw materials for English industries, such as cotton, to be moved swiftly and efficiently from India’s interiors to port towns [...].

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Despite the doubters, the new Indian railways attracted an increasing number of passengers. The half-million passengers recorded in 1854 when tracks became operational increased to 26 million in 1875. By 1900, annual passenger figures stood at 175 million and then almost trebled to 520 million by 1919-20. By the time of the partition of India in 1947 it had risen to more than 1 billion passenger journeys annually. Indeed, images of overcrowded trains came to epitomize the upheaval of partition, with the rail system used to carry swaths of uprooted peoples across the soon-to-be Pakistan-India border. Third-class passengers, overwhelmingly Indians, comprised almost 90% of this traffic. These escalating figures did not, however, generate a lowering of fares. Nor did they result in any substantial improvements in the conditions of [...] travel. [...]

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The generally British railway managers seemed disinclined to remedy systematic overcrowding, which included transporting passengers in wagons meant for livestock. Rather, they insisted that such overcrowding was caused by the peculiar habits and inclinations of Indian passengers: their alleged [...] inclination to follow one another “like sheep” into crowded carriages. These attributes were soon rendered into a more public narrative, especially among Western mindsets. Journalist H. Sutherland Stark, writing for the industry publication Indian State Railways Magazine in 1929, stated that though “unversed” in railway administration and traffic control, he knew railway facilities were not the problem. Rather, Indian passengers lacked the mental preparedness, “self-possession” and “method” necessary to travel like “sane human beings.” Stark suggested passenger education as a solution to the perceived problem, making railway travel a tool for “self-composure and mass orderliness.” [...]

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More than a century later, this depiction endures, though, ironically, it now serves as a foil to understanding contemporary India. In a piece published in The New York Times on March 12, 2005, the author lauded the then-new Delhi metro, emphasizing that it had “none of the chaotic squalor of hawkers and beggars that characterizes mainline railroads in India, nor do desperate travelers hang from the sides of the trains.” As the debate rages on whether safety has taken a back seat to “glossy modernization projects” in India – early analyses suggest signaling failure might have caused June 2, 2023, accident – railways continue to represent India’s history.

In the heyday of empire, they were deemed the technology through which Britain would drag India into capitalist modernity. In 1947, they became a leitmotif for the trauma of the partition that accompanied the independence of India and Pakistan. As the coverage of Odisha accident reminds us, it continues to be a metaphor in the West for evaluating contemporary India.

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Headline, image, caption, and all text above by: Ritika Prasa. “Overcrowded trains serve as metaphor for India in Western eyes -- but they are a relic of colonialism and capitalism.” The Conversation. 9 June 2023. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[weirdowithaquill]

Traintober 2023: Day 1 - Free Day

Preservation on Sodor:

Sodor must be one of the most interesting places to look at when it comes to railway preservation, if not also road, sea and air preservation. For starters, the island’s railways are all still primarily run by vintage steam traction – but there’s also Harold, who is in his 60s or 70s at this point, Bertie the bus (who is nearing 100), Trevor and Terrence and George – not to mention the fact that the island seems to continue to have antique ships within its waters, including steam ships and fishing trawlers.

But of course, I want to focus on the railways – and in particular how Sodor must be the British hub for heritage railways, museums and other attractions. For starters, Sodor has by far the largest heritage railway system in the world for its size, with over 80 miles of mainline, several branchlines, a narrow-gauge railway, a mountain railway and a miniature gauge railway. It also has a massive fleet of engines – 80 by the Reverend’s count on the NWR alone – making it possibly the single largest working heritage railway in the UK, if not Europe. This would instantly attract many preservationists wishing to run their locomotives, meaning that mainline excursions and visitors would be a frequent sight on the island. This in turn would bring in tourists, who would make money for the NWR and the railway the engines belong to, as well as helping the Fat Controller if one of his enignes is unable to work. It would also give us as railfans the chance to see unique motive power on a variety of trains - like a Coronation Class pulling a slow goods, or a Hughes Crab on a China Clay train - things we don't get to see anymore. 

Furthermore, Sodor is home to Crovan’s Gate Works, the largest steamworks of its kind in Britain. For its influence, I am going to turn to 60163 Tornado. When Tornado was built, her boiler had to be manufactured in Germany because there was just no one in the UK able to produce a boiler of the type, while the superheater header needed to be attempted by three foundries before it was assembled correctly. Crovan’s Gate Works, which is able to maintain a full fleet of engines including Gordon – who is also an A1 with many similarities – would have been able to do both in a far timelier manner. The same would go for all locomotive repair programs in the UK. Crovan’s Gate would either host locomotives or manufacture parts for them, becoming a hub for preservation across the country. Engines like Stepney or Green Arrow would be able to be overhauled at the Works, rather than be taken out of service. This would effect how many steam engines are in working order in Britain, if not Europe, as the refurbishment time would be significantly shortened - something that is compounded if said locomotive shares any components with a Sodor engine - like Talyllyn, Dolgoch, Flying Scotsman or any of the Black 5s, Panniers or Autotanks in preservation. 

This brings me on to the last point: International Tourism. Sodor must be one of the most visited locations in Britain in this universe. For starters, there’s all the fans of the book and TV series (which are both canon and referenced in the books). This means that Sodor would have tens of thousands of families coming to the island from around the world annually to see the ‘Eight Famous Engines’ or the ‘Steam Team’, bringing in a massive amount of revenue for hotels, local businesses and the railways themselves. But there would also be the railfans who come with the aforementioned railtours, as well as international railfans who want to see steam in action in a mainline setting – something nearly impossible anywhere on the planet. Sodor has at least one airport (and probably two, considering in real life there is an airport on Walney Island near the real-life Vickerstown), six ports connected to the NWR, and a rail and road link to the UK. The island has the infrastructure to handle the flocks of tourists, and this would in turn benefit much of the rest of Northern England. This would majorly benefit the preservation world by bringing in funding for Sodor, which is in turn able to fund things like track upgrades, or overhauls for engines beyond their own railway. It also gives other railways a good place to promote themselves, as Sodor has a guaranteed market for tourists who may travel to these other railways. 

You cannot understate how much these books have done for Sodor, and for railway preservation as a whole.

So, Sodor is at the very least a centre for preservation in the UK, with railtours, overhauls and masses of international tourists – but it’s also where a lot of engines were likely rescued from. We see it in Oliver and Douglas, but engines know of Sodor and its safety. I can imagine an alternate universe in which engines keep turning up throughout the 1960s, being brought to safety on Sodor and then sold to heritage railways, being overhauled at Crovan’s Gate before moving to their new homes. Sodor would act as an intermediate in this era, being able to do the paperwork to preserve engines due to its position in the national network while also being aligned with the cause of the heritage railways. Sodor is a safe haven for steam, and this would have a significant impact on its position as a preservation hub for the UK.

Back to the Master Post

[aimeedaisies]

Great Western Railway celebrates The Princess Royal’s lifetime of dedicated service by naming train in her honour

Great Western Railway has named a train after HRH The Princess Royal in recognition of her support for more than 300 charities, organisations and military regiments in the UK and overseas.

Representatives from a host of those organisations joined guests at London Paddington on Thursday 2nd May as Intercity Express Train 800024 was named in honour of Her Royal Highness.

Her Royal Highness was joined at London Paddington by husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, a member of the GWR Advisory Board.

After the unveiling, The Princess Royal was introduced to guests including the Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper MP, former Prime Minister Theresa May and Transport for London Commissioner Andrew Lord.

Mark Hopwood, Great Western Railway Managing Director, said: “Naming trains has been a tradition on the railway, and especially on the Great Western Railway, since the earliest days of train travel.”

“Today GWR proudly continues this tradition, recognising and celebrating inspirational individuals who have shaped the communities and the nation. Her Royal Highness has dedicated a large part of her working life to official engagements and visits and we are delighted to recognise this immense contribution by carrying her name on the side of this Intercity Express Train.”

Transport Secretary, Rt Hon Mark Harper MP, said: “I’m delighted to see one of GWR’s trains named after Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal in recognition of her remarkable commitment to public service.

“Her Royal Highness has made a significant contribution to so many important charities, events and public services so it gives me great pride to celebrate this through one of the greatest traditions on our railways.”

Inspired by the heritage of GWR’s King George V locomotive, two sides of a coin appear on the side of GWR’s named Intercity Express Trains.

With the Coat of Arms of the GWR on one side of coin, the other will include an illustration of The Princess competing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Seated on the Queen’s horse, Goodwill, Her Royal Highness was taking part in the equestrian three-day event – the first member of the Royal Family to feature in the Olympics.

HRH went on to play a part in London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and today brings insight and experience to her role as a British member of the International Olympic Committee, as well as being President of the British Olympic Association.

Annamarie Phelps CBE, Vice-Chairman of the British Olympic Association, said: “HRH The Princess Royal is synonymous with British Olympic sport and the British Olympic Association. Having competed as an Olympian, she also holds the unique record of being an IOC member, having led an international sport federation and, of course, being the mother to another Olympian, Zara Tindall. We are delighted to join her today to celebrate the naming of this train in her honour.”

The Princess has been President of Save the Children UK since 1970, visiting projects in many countries including China, Cambodia, Botswana, Madagascar and The Philippines.

Gemma Sherrington, Interim Chief Executive of Save the Children, said: “We are delighted that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal is being honoured by Great Western Railway for her lifelong charitable commitments. The Princess Royal has supported the work of Save the Children for over 50 years and as our Patron has worked tirelessly to support us, visiting teams in the UK and around the world and regularly meeting with our inspirational fundraisers and volunteers.

“We continue to be incredibly grateful for The Princess Royal’s support to help us continue to deliver lasting change for children and their families in the UK and across the globe.”

HRH has been closely involved with the creation of several charities, including The Princess Royal’s Trust for Carers (now Carers Trust), Transaid and Riders for Health, and has been Patron of the Motor Neurone Disease Association since 2008.

Tanya Curry, chief executive of the MND Association, said, “HRH The Princess Royal has offered steadfast support to the MND Association for more than 16 years and is a remarkable advocate for people with motor neurone disease, a terminal illness which affects more than 5000 people in the UK at any one time.

“We are incredibly grateful to Her Royal Highness for her unwavering dedication throughout her time as Royal Patron of the MND Association, and we are delighted her commitment to charitable causes is being recognised in this way.”

[southeastasianists]

Jo is the holder of a newly minted degree in English literature from one of the top universities in Laos. But the 22-year-old, who graduated only weeks ago, says he already feels "hopeless".

Confronted with a barren job market, the Vientiane resident holds no hope of finding work at home, and instead aims to become a cleaner or a fruit picker in Australia. His aspirations are low, but they reflect a hushed disenchantment spreading among his peers; the result of a severe and sustained economic downturn that has ravaged Laos for the past two years.

"Every person in this generation doesn't believe in the government. They want to leave Laos, they don't believe anything the government says," he tells the BBC. "Most of my friends have the same thoughts, but we only talk about it privately. If you say bad things about them in public, I don't know what will happen."

The economic crisis has been caused by a rash programme of government borrowing used to finance Chinese-backed infrastructure projects which has begun to unravel. The crisis shows little sign of easing, with public debt spiralling to unsustainable levels, resulting in government budget cuts, sky-high inflation and record-breaking currency depreciation, leaving many living on the brink in one of South East Asia's poorest countries.

Faced with a dire economic situation, and with the April shooting of activist Anousa "Jack" Luangsuphom underscoring the brutal lengths authorities in the one-party state will go to silence calls for reform, a generation of young Laotians increasingly see their future abroad.

"[Young people] aren't even thinking about change, it's a feeling of how am I going to get out of this country - I'm stuck here, there's no future for me," said Emilie Pradichit, a Lao-French international human rights lawyer and the founder of human rights group Manushya Foundation.

"If you see your country becoming a colony of China, you see a government that is totally corrupt, and you cannot speak up because if you do you might be killed - would you want to stay?"

The 'debt trap'

A sparsely populated, landlocked country of 7.5 million people, Laos is one of the region's poorest and least developed nations. In a bid to transform the largely agrarian society, the past decade has seen the government take on major infrastructure projects, mostly financed by historic ally and neighbour China - itself on a lending spree since 2013 as part of its global infrastructure investment programme, the Belt and Road initiative (BRI).

Laos has built dozens of foreign-financed dams to transform itself into the "battery of South East Asia" as a major exporter of electricity to the region. But oversupply has turned many dams unproductive, and the state electricity company sits in $5bn (£4.1bn) debt. Lacking funds, Laos handed a majority Chinese-owned company a 25-year concession to manage large parts of its power grid in 2021, including control over exports.

Also among the debt-laden megaprojects is the Lao-China railway, connecting Vientiane to southern China. It opened in December 2021 at a cost of $5.9bn (£4.85bn), but saddled the Lao government with $1.9bn in debt. Beijing says the railway has created an "economic corridor", but the numbers just don't add up for some economists, not least because Chinese state-owned companies hold a 70% stake.

"I'm sure people are happy to travel very quickly across Laos, but it's not justified at the cost that was agreed to," economist Jayant Menon, a senior fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, says of the railway.

All of this has added to Laos' ballooning debt, which is now ninth highest globally as a share of its GDP, according to the International Monetary Fund. Around half of that is owed to China, and Laos is now having to borrow more from lenders in the country just to stay afloat.

"Laos is so heavily indebted to China that their negotiating position is compromised," he said. "It's having to borrow just to service the debt. That's the definition of a debt trap."

The Lao government could not be reached for comment. But Mr Menon emphasised that Laos has repeatedly rejected other international lenders in favour of Beijing, perhaps because of a belief within the government that China "will not let another socialist country fail". He added that Beijing was also cautious about letting another BRI country default on its debt after Sri Lanka.

The only thing currently preventing that outcome are repeated Chinese debt deferment agreements - the conditions of which remain highly opaque. This has raised concerns over Beijing's growing sway over Laos. When asked if Laos is at risk of becoming a vassal state, Mr Menon said "that ship has sailed".

He said that the "macro-instability" caused by "massive debt accumulation" has also caused the decline of the Lao currency, the kip, which continues to depreciate to record lows against the US dollar. This has led to a decades-high rise in prices, and nowhere is this being felt more acutely than among ordinary Laotians.

'If I don't fight, I'll die'

"'I have never experienced anything like this year," says Phonxay, a frail looking woman in her 60s, selling household staples at a food market in Vientiane. She said her customers are buying less because "prices go up day to day", adding that August was the most expensive month yet. Her family has had to adapt to survive.

"My family needs to eat more cheaply than ever before. We eat half of what we used to eat," Phonxay says. "But I'll fight until the end. If I don't, I'll die."

But it's young Lao, their futures mortgaged off for the benefit of infrastructure projects offering them few tangible opportunities, that will bear the brunt of the economic crisis for years to come.

"Lao is very good to travel, but not good to live in," says Sen, a 19-year-old working as a receptionist in a hotel in Luang Prabang in northern Laos.

The city is bustling once again, with its Unesco World Heritage Old Quarter of pristine French colonial-era buildings filled with tourists. But Sen says times remain tough: "For normal people like me it's very hard. It's just better than living as a homeless person in India, and maybe just better than North Korea. I'm serious, we're just trying to survive."

He earns just $125 per month at his hotel job, but he doesn't see any point in going to university or applying for government jobs as he'd have to "pay lots of money" to corrupt officials to get anywhere as he has no family connections.

"At the moment, almost every Lao student like myself doesn't want to go to university," he says. "They study Japanese or Korean and then apply to work in factories or farming in those countries."

It's this "sense of discouragement among Lao youth… that needs urgent attention," says Catherine Phuong, the deputy resident representative at the UN Development Programme in Laos. She pointed to the "staggering" NEET (not in education, employment or training) rate of 38.7% among 18-to-24-year olds - by far the highest in South East Asia.

"We're especially concerned in Laos that with the debt situation we are seeing reduced investment in the social sector, including health and education," she told the BBC. "I'm sure you can imagine the impact that will have on this generation, not just in the coming years, but in the next 10 to 20 years."

But with the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, which has ruled the country since 1975, intolerant of dissenting voices, young people have had to turn to social media to air their grievances.

It was in March 2022, as inflation and the cost of living began rising, that Anousa "Jack" Luangsuphom created Kub Kluen Duay Keyboard or "The Power of the Keyboard", one of a growing number of social commentary Facebook pages critical of authorities.

The 25-year-old was drawing tens of thousands of followers when he was attacked at a cafe in Vientiane on April 29. CCTV footage shows a masked man firing a bullet into Jack's face and chest. A police statement days later blamed a business dispute or lover's quarrel. Jack survived the attack, but for his followers, the culprit was obvious.

"I feel really bad that the government would shoot him, that they would try to control us like that," says Jo, the university student in Vientiane, who follows Jack's Facebook page. "Jack is the voice of Lao people, he said things that normal people are afraid to say."

But these calls for reform will only be ignored or suppressed, and few know this better than Shui-Meng Ng - the wife of disappeared Lao civil society advocate Sombath Somphone.

Sombath has not been seen since being detained by police in Vientiane in December 2012, a time when his influence was growing and there was hope of reform.

Speaking to the BBC from her craft shop in downtown Vientiane, the last place she saw her husband the day he was abducted, Shui-Meng said voices like Jack's and Sombath's are squashed because they grow "too big a following" at times when the "Lao political elite are facing difficulties".

"Every time something like [Jack's shooting] happens, you see this," she said, zipping her lips. "People go silent."

[nidse22]

China-Myanmar Economic and Trade Cooperation, Humanitarian Assistance and Peaceful Conflict Resolution: China's Position and Efforts

peace#Burma

Highlights and opportunities of China-Myanmar economic and trade cooperation

As a close neighbor of China, Myanmar has achieved remarkable results in economic and trade cooperation with China in recent years. From trade exchanges, investment cooperation to infrastructure construction, China-Myanmar economic and trade cooperation has shown strong potential and opportunities.

China and Myanmar have shown great complementarity in the field of trade. China's exports to Myanmar mainly include machinery and equipment, electronic equipment, chemical products, etc., while imports from Myanmar are mainly agricultural products and mineral resources. This trade structure not only promotes the development of the bilateral economy, but also deepens the interdependence of the two countries in the economic field.

With the advancement of China's Belt and Road Initiative, China and Myanmar have also made great progress in cooperation in the field of investment. The investment projects of Chinese enterprises in Myanmar cover many key sectors such as energy, transportation and telecommunications, which have injected strong impetus into Myanmar's economic development. At the same time, Chinese investment has also created a large number of jobs in Myanmar and contributed to the prosperity of the local economy.

The lag in infrastructure construction has always been a bottleneck restricting Myanmar's economic development. The investment and technical support of Chinese companies in this field has brought great changes to Myanmar. The construction of railways, highways and other infrastructure between China and Myanmar has not only improved the transportation conditions between the two countries, but also further deepened the exchanges and cooperation between China and Myanmar in the economic and cultural fields.

China's diplomatic position on humanitarian assistance and peaceful conflict resolution

In the face of the complex situation in Myanmar, China has always upheld the humanitarian spirit and actively provided assistance, while calling for a peaceful settlement of the conflict and striving to maintain regional peace and stability.

When Myanmar faces a humanitarian crisis, China is always the first to lend a helping hand. Whether it is providing emergency supplies or sending medical teams, China has demonstrated the friendship between neighbors and helping each other with practical actions. This not only reflects China's sense of international responsibility, but also sets a good example for promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

China has always adhered to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in handling international relations, and the Chinese Government has issued statements on many occasions on the internal conflict in Myanmar, calling on all parties to resolve differences through dialogue and consultation and maintain regional peace and stability. At the same time, China has also actively participated in international efforts to mediate the internal conflict in Myanmar and has played a constructive role in promoting the peace process.

The good diplomatic relations between China and Myanmar have continued to develop

China and Myanmar have close ties historically, culturally and geopolitically. In the new historical period, the sustained development of bilateral relations is of great significance to maintaining regional peace and stability and promoting common development.

China and Myanmar have frequent high-level exchanges, and the two sides have maintained close communication and coordination at the diplomatic level. On issues concerning each other's core interests, the two countries support each other and jointly address challenges. In addition, the two sides have maintained close cooperation in international affairs and worked together for regional peace and development.

In addition to mutual trust and cooperation at the diplomatic level, China and Myanmar have also achieved remarkable results in people-to-people exchanges and mutual cultural learning. With the increase in personnel exchanges and the expansion of communication channels, the understanding and friendship between the two peoples have been deepened. Exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, education, science and technology have become increasingly active, injecting vitality into the long-term development of China-Myanmar relations.

It can be seen that China-Myanmar economic and trade cooperation, China's diplomatic stance on humanitarian assistance and peaceful conflict resolution are important components of China-Myanmar relations. In the new historical period, the two sides should continue to consolidate and develop practical cooperation in various fields and jointly write a new chapter in China-Myanmar relations. At the same time, China will, as always, uphold the principles of peace, development and cooperation, and work with the international community to make unremitting efforts to maintain regional peace and stability and promote common development.

[zvaigzdelasas]

The first shipment of products from the Baowu Liberia iron ore project arrived at Zhenjiang Port, and the project in neighboring Guinea is accelerating.

According to the latest news from China Baowu, the world’s largest steel company, on the afternoon of October 12, the “Changhai Binhai” ship, which had been sailing for more than a month, entered the river from the sea and successfully berthed at the No. 10 berth of Zhenjiang Port, Jiangsu. The “Changhang Binhai” ship is fully loaded with 45,000 tons of iron ore products from Liberia. This is also the first overseas self-produced iron ore product since Baowu Resources, a subsidiary of China Baowu, accelerated the development and construction of overseas resources.[...]

Liberia is only the beginning of Baowu Resources’ overseas strategy in Africa. Its neighboring country Guinea is becoming the next larger source of iron ore. The Simandou Iron Mine, located in Kairouane Province in southeastern Guinea, is the undeveloped iron ore with the largest reserves and the highest quality in the world. It has an initial annual production capacity of 120 million tons of high-quality iron ore.

Previously, on September 30, 2022, Baowu Resources and Win Alliance Simandou Holdings Company (Singapore) held cloud signings of the core terms of the cooperation agreement in Shanghai and Beijing regarding the cooperation on the northern block project of Simandou Iron Ore in Guinea. ceremony. This is also the official announcement of China Baowu’s “entry” into the northern Simandou project.

The project is also accelerating. On the afternoon of October 7, Baowu Resources and Simangdu Win Alliance signed a confirmation letter of shareholder agreement for the Simangdu Northern Block Project Mining Joint Venture Company at Baowu Building. Simandou Win Alliance (WCS) is a consortium formed by Singapore’s Winning International Group and Weiqiao Entrepreneurship Group. It holds the mining rights of the northern block of Simandou (Blocks 1 and 2).

The Simang Duying Alliance has an annual bauxite production capacity of 50 million tons in Guinea and experience in the construction and operation of the Dar-Saint-Saint-Saint-German Railway. It has unique advantages in ports, transfers, and ocean transportation.

Hu Wangming, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Baowu, pointed out at the signing of the contract on October 7 that the security of ore resources is related to national strategy, and the Simandou project is of great significance to the security and resilience of the industrial chain and supply chain of China’s steel industry.

16 Oct 23

[sataniccapitalist]

“It seems not a week goes by without fresh reminders that the global supply chains underpinning international trade remain in turmoil, riven by an angst that has persisted since Covid-19. Most recent is the turmoil across North America’s railway network as Canada’s Teamsters union members threaten to bring trains to a halt.”

[aisling-saoirse]

Princess Tree - Paulownia tomentosa

Today's Plant Profile is a little different, I wanted to cover an 'invasive' that fascinated me.

Before I begin I wanted to dissect my terminology on invasive, the term is often thrown at plants without considering a racialized and often problematic methodology on how we relate to these species. Invasive species are typically advantageous in the face of disturbance and quick to colonize altered areas, the monumental spread of invasives is a direct result of euro-centric land commodification, international trade and colonization. These species would not be as 'destructive' as they are without dramatic change to wildspaces/once-thoroughly-managed landscapes. You don't have to love these plants but understand that they often occupy spaces we disturbed, and that doesnt mean i want monocultures of introduced species but we should analyze what makes them thrive the way they do. I usually cover natives species to a document a dramatic loss I noticed in my lifetime however every plant has a good story behind.

To start let's identify the Princess Tree! Best known for their showy pink-lavender foxglove like flowers, perfect structural form, and massive leaves. This tree can grow up 90 feet, it's extremely fast growing, full trees can form between bricks (see 2 images below). The massive leaves are heart-shaped cataylpa-like often exceeding a foot in size (I see people use them as umbrellas in a pinch). The bark is pretty light in color, younger bark is speckled then becomes furrowed with age. The flowers are rather large, about the size of my palm (image 2), typically growing in large triangular clusters. In fall and winter, flowers typically form this large rough shell (see branch cuttings below) that splits overtime, more about that later.

The Princess Tree has a very rich folklore and introduced history behind it. According to my Chinese classmates the Princess Tree gets it's name from an old story about a beloved betrothed Princess who was transformed into this tree by a trickster, her husband-to-be was transformed into a Phoenix and it's said that when a ruler as great as she returns the Phoenix will land on its branches. I see (mostly western anecdotes) claim that this tree is planted when girls are born and the wood is used as a dowry, my classmates did not agree with this (take note these are landscape students). The wood is very sought-after in east Asia as it is sturdy and light, occasionally some american cities will sell the wood from invasive groves back to China, how fascinating!

The introduced history comes in two parts. The first the tree was initially sold as an ornamental originating from the Dutch east India company, the tree reached America by the 1830s. Due to the structure of the tree itself up into the mid century, modernist designers LOVED this tree, I've seen so many architectural drawings lovingly depicting it's big leaves. The second interesting facet about this tree's spread is that certain Chinese porcelain companies used to use the seed pods as a form of packing peanuts. Since the porcelain was primarily shipped by train in continent the tree quickly took hold around rail lines, if you look in philadelphia the oldest trees are around the railroads. The tree was able to survive in the desolate railway soils because it (like most invasive species) is able to derive nitrogen directly from the atmosphere into its roots. That's why you see these babies growing directly in a brick wall like below, crazy right?

The Princess Tree's native range is central to Western China, not much is know about it's natural habitat because literal millenia of civilization scale landscape changes. What is known is that the tree was typically found in dry-ravines and open valleys. Due to the movement of interesting botanical species the tree found found itself everywhere, even in Catherine the Great's royal garden and eventually into colonial-core markets. In America its currently invasive from Pennsylvania to Florida but can be found in almost every major city.

As said before it typically only invades disturbed locations, it's a pioneer species therefore it's advantageous in areas of full sun, poor soil, and generally super dry. The tree can honestly grow anywhere but typically only thrives in that disturbance niche, it has trouble invading older growth forests. The tree itself usually doesn't live more than 70ish years and after that a new ecology typically sprouts from the area it formerly inhabited, this tree is very good at building a fertile soil network from its nitrogen rich leaves. It must be said that this tree does rootsprout vigorously, and these sprouts can grow a shocking 15 feet in one growing season!!! Trees derived from seed usually take 3 years to reach that size (see my alleyway below)...for basically any oak it would take like 10 years to maybe reach that.

As for ethnobotanical usage, this is invasive so I'm going to recommend you just use this tree to death honestly. The massive leaves are very rich in nitrogen and make great compost. Leaves also make an umbrella in a pinch. The tree is super vigorous and a rapid grower so you can imagine it makes great coppice (and for my silvoculturists: leaves makes good animal fodder). The flowers have a lovely scent and look like foxglove without the poison (and they last a while). The wood is quite light lovely and workable, it reminds me of a lighter colored black locust. Apparently this tree also utlizes C⁴ photosynthesis which utilizing a different compound of carbon to derive energy, that's kind of interesting. It has a lot of great qualities honestly, as far as invasives go I really like this tree.

If you want to plant this tree...don't <3...there's enough, go to any city to experience it. In Eastern America some good alternatives are northern catalypa or black locust. If any of my Chinese followers know the full Princess story I would love to hear about it! As always happy hunting!

[comradeocean]

The Secret of Why the Dinosaurs Went Extinct

Prologue: It was the winter of 1993… [non-fiction]

Naturally, the K Literature Award was instituted for the commemoration of 'K's. The prize money is not much, but people all say that with the K Literary Award in hand, the Nobel is not far off.

Why K? Because K is the signpost of literary genius for our time: Kafka, Kawabata, Koestler, Kundera, Kureishi, Krasznahorkai, Kraus… The time of 'K' is Kommunistische Zeit, and the time of Kapital. Ke Xiangying is surnamed 柯, Kay E. He really was blessed by the ancestors.

In order to retrieve the award, Ke Xiangying had to cross the Atlantic Ocean, from the East Coast of the United States to Europe. After picking up the trophy (and not much prize money), the publishing house, anxious to sell books, did not let him go. Instead, he was taken on a grand tour of the developed capitalist nations of the West, giving readings, interviews, guest lectures, seminars. Paris was their last stop.

One afternoon after the signing, Ke Xiangying emerged from a bookstore rotating his sore wrists and saw that the streets from the Luxembourg Gardens to the Pantheon were packed with people.

"What's this about?" Ke Xiangying asked the on-site interpreter.

The interpreter hired by the bookstore was a young international student. He shook his head and said that it could be anything since people in France were always protesting. It was the French translator of Ke Xiangying's novel who answered in halting Mandarin: "These are workers from several state-owned enterprises opposing privatization reforms. The ones at the front, yes, under the red CGT balloons, those are railway workers. They're the most militant. How do you say this in Chinese again? '砸了铁饭碗' — smashing the iron rice bowl. I actually learned the phrase from Ke's book."

The young international student was quite shocked. "There are still state-owned enterprises in France?"

The French translator was also surprised. "Which country doesn't have nationalized industries? Water, electricity, the post, automotive manufacturing… Of course the state has to be the controlling shareholder."

"Then are you also opposed to privatization?"

The young French man laughed. "Well, take the SNCF, it was probably nationalized long before I was born."

Ke Xiangying stood at the door of the bookstore, and watched the people with red flags walking past in waves. He suddenly remembered when he was very young, Chinese people could still take to the streets in demonstrations, carrying Chairman Mao's portrait (he had never seen any with portraits of Lin Biao; Ke Xiangying was only one year old when the plane crashed in Öndörkhaan). During the National Day parade, there were floats, and the ones featuring ranks of the working class [brothers] were particularly eye-catching. It was beyond glorious, all the workers of The Big Four gallantly marching by.

When he was young, he had a boyfriend named Jiang Ming who was a worker. That's right, Ke Xiangying was a homosexual. This was expected. Why else would a jury give the award to someone from China? Just because his last name began with K? There must always be something else beyond the writing: being a sexual minority, of color, anti-Communist, a Commie-lover, anti-Unification, pro-Unification, a Croat, a Serb, a Jew, a Tutsi, a Native American … Third-World literature cannot avoid politics.

As a matter of fact, Ke Xiangying really didn't want to talk about all that. He always said in interviews, "I'm not a liberal. How can you discern ideology from a love story?" The academics in the Faculty of Arts just laughed and kept on writing their papers — "Although Ke refuses to acknowledge the political orientation of his novels, we see that in his writings, the authoritarian regime…" And if Ke Xiangying only had cock in mind when he picked up a pen? That was not their purview.

But the cock was not Jiang Ming's. He didn't dare recall it. Ke Xiangying pressed the Jiang Ming who was unlike anyone else in all of existence into the deepest little box in his heart. Even through the hard days of New York City when he only had the free Chinese church meals to eat, or when his manuscript was rejected by the 17th publisher, or when a Mexican gigolo robbed him of all his money, he didn't dare to take the lid off the box and think about Jiang Ming. He was afraid that his thoughts would make the memories fade, like sugar that melted away more and more with every lick.

Ke Xiangying knew that he had never loved anyone in his life the way he loved Jiang Ming. Only when he looked at Jiang Ming did his soul tickle as Plato said, become warm and moist, and grow the fine feathers that carried people into the sky. But now he no longer had wings, and he didn't dare try to remember Jiang Ming like it had been a previous life.

In this moment though, everything had to come rushing back in. He couldn't stop staring at the ranks of trade unionists in the demonstration. Some of them wore blue overalls. Some took off their shirts, revealing the slightly-tanned inverted triangles of their muscular bodies, just like Jiang Ming used to do. In the summer, he didn't bother wearing an undershirt, just walked around the house with his upper body bare. Ke Xiangying couldn't stand it anymore. He announced to the publisher with the self-righteous impulse prone to middle-aged men that he will return to China soon. The publisher nodded, as if to demonstrate his knowingness about the matter at hand — that of a triumphant return and all.

Ke Xiangying's brother, Ke Xianghai, drove to Beijing International Airport for the pick-up. In recent years, after a long period of estrangement, they had started contact each other more frequently again because Ke Xianghai's son was studying in the United States.

Sitting in the car, other than the grey-blue sky, Tianjin seemed very different from when he had left. Ke Xiangying made a sound of surprise when the car drove over the Hai River. He had never seen any of these skyscrapers and reconstructions of the foreign concessions that filled the night sky with light pollution. And the chimneys he was so familiar with, there was no trace left at all. Back then, the Tianjin Radio and Television Tower had not been built yet, and the tallest building in the city was that big chimney. Day and night, white smoke had floated out of it, like little white dragons bound for the high sky of the North China Plain, crossing en-route the Hai river, which had seemed much wider than it was now.

Having made an appearance at his brother's drinking party and fulfilled the role of hometown kid made good, Ke Xiangying could hardly wait to ask his brother to help him find and contact old friends.

Before going abroad, Ke Xiangying and Jiang Ming's family, or more precisely, his two sisters, were almost at each other's throats. And after Jiang Ming's family discovered Jiang Ming had unexpectedly titled the deed of his apartment to Ke Xiangying, he became the sworn enemy of the Jiang parents.

Now, with the passage of time, Ke Xiangying can even be in the inconceivable position of sitting in a cafe with Jiang Ming's little sister. Her name was Jiang Liang, and she was a senior engineer at the design institute. They sat there for about half an hour. Ke Xiangying had the distinct realization that as their conversation drew on, Jiang Liang's hatred for him was growing with every second. By the end, this middle-aged, middle class woman no longer cared to put up with the notion of respectable conduct. That rough and tumble childhood spent in the alleys of Tianjin was once again revived in her body. "You intellectuals…" she said. "I've figured it out now. You intellectuals are the most selfish and misanthropic people of all. It was my brother's curse to have met you. So jot this down: other people have the right to say whatever they want about my brother. But not you.

No one would be talking to him about Jiang Ming.

That night at home, Ke Xiangying tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. Finally, he got up and turned on the computer. You all refuse to talk about him with me? Fine. I'll do it myself. He opened a new document, and the screen was as empty as the memories he now had. His fingers fell into the familiar shapes of typing on the keyboard.

"It was the winter of 1993…"

translated author's notes

[1] This work is named in honour of Antonia Pennacchi's debut novel "Mammut" or Mammoth. ["L’egemonia operaia? Ma per piacere… Siamo una classe estinta… Come il bisonte d’Europa. Come i mammut" — Workers' hegemony? Please… We are an extinct class… Like the buffalos of Europe, like the woolly mammoths.]

[2] The Big Four, or literally the "Four Heavens" refers to the four big enterprises in Tianjin that once 'built all of China' - the Tianjin tractor plant, the Tianjin heavy machinery plant, the Tianjin machinery plant, and the Tianjin engine plant.

[accio-victuuri]

some details in All Tomorrow’s Parties ( My Friend ):

• The 16-day Asian Games mentioned in the film was the 11th Asian Games in 1990, which was held in Beijing. It is the first comprehensive international sports competition hosted by China. This event served as a precursor to China's further development in the sporting arena.

"Have you donated today?" was a buzzword at that time. In order to hold the Beijing Asian Games, tens of millions of people across the country donated a total of 1/10 of the total investment.

• The first person Li Mo ( Wang Yibo ) contacted after returning home was Brother Chen. After meeting his "friend" ( Zhou Xun ) Li Mo, a young literary and artistic young man, went to get a haircut. Li Mo is portrayed as this wandering poet and there is a poem made by him that is read in the film :

Blue Train by Li Mo

On the night, dark as the unfathomable ocean we board a blue train home. The youth, and his girlfriend, are sending the big guy home. Only the blue train can take them there. He says, is is his land of Gold.

This could pertain to China’s railway station beginnings in the 90s. Since Li Mo is well travelled, he may have seen it.

• Li Mo’s character may seem like having ( Zhou Xun ) as his friend is an exaggeration. that he only assumed it because he has poor social skills. But towards the end, she did not make a fuss that the ticket was given to him. She went inside knowing that Li Mo was there to accompany him.

• the movie being played in the last scene is called 400 Blows.

Francois Truffaut's "The 400 Blows" (1959) is one of the most intensely touching stories ever made about a young adolescent. Inspired by Truffaut's own early life, it shows a resourceful boy growing up in Paris and apparently dashing headlong into a life of crime.

The Director of the Short film had this to say about Wang Yibo :

To be honest, I've only heard the name Wang Yibo before, I don't know him or how much energy he has. I watched Wang Yibo's after knowing it was him. In some videos, his temperament is very cool. I was a little worried about him at first as he is not the same as the role. But after the first meeting, I felt at ease.

He was very polite, very humble, and then very stable, which gave me a lot of space and confidence to put my understanding and imagination of this character on him. Directors all want actors in this state. It is experienced and professional, but at the same time it is always the attitude of doing it for the first time, it is a very comfortable cooperation.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 11.17 (after 1950)

1950 – Lhamo Dondrub is officially named the 14th Dalai Lama. 1950 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 89 relating to the Palestine Question is adopted. 1953 – The remaining human inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, Kerry, Ireland, are evacuated to the mainland. 1957 – Vickers Viscount G-AOHP of British European Airways crashes at Ballerup after the failure of three engines on approach to Copenhagen Airport. The cause is a malfunction of the anti-icing system on the aircraft. There are no fatalities. 1962 – President John F. Kennedy dedicates Washington Dulles International Airport, serving the Washington, D.C., region. 1967 – Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports that he had been given on November 13, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the nation that, while much remained to be done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking…We are making progress." 1968 – British European Airways introduces the BAC One-Eleven into commercial service. 1968 – Viewers of the Raiders–Jets football game in the eastern United States are denied the opportunity to watch its exciting finish when NBC broadcasts Heidi instead, prompting changes to sports broadcasting in the U.S. 1969 – Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, Finland to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides. 1970 – Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai Massacre. 1970 – Luna programme: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft. 1973 – Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook." 1973 – The Athens Polytechnic uprising against the military regime ends in a bloodshed in the Greek capital. 1983 – The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded in Mexico. 1986 – The flight crew of Japan Airlines Flight 1628 are involved in a UFO sighting incident while flying over Alaska. 1989 – Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins: In Czechoslovakia, a student demonstration in Prague is quelled by riot police. This sparks an uprising aimed at overthrowing the communist government (it succeeds on December 29). 1990 – Fugendake, part of the Mount Unzen volcanic complex, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, becomes active again and erupts. 1993 – United States House of Representatives passes a resolution to establish the North American Free Trade Agreement. 1993 – In Nigeria, General Sani Abacha ousts the government of Ernest Shonekan in a military coup. 1997 – In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by six Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut, known as Luxor massacre. 2000 – A catastrophic landslide in Log pod Mangartom, Slovenia, kills seven, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophes in Slovenia in the past 100 years. 2000 – Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru. 2003 – Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tenure as the governor of California began. 2012 – At least 50 schoolchildren are killed in an accident at a railway crossing near Manfalut, Egypt. 2013 – Fifty people are killed when Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 crashes at Kazan Airport, Russia. 2013 – A rare late-season tornado outbreak strikes the Midwest. Illinois and Indiana are most affected with tornado reports as far north as lower Michigan. In all around six dozen tornadoes touch down in approximately an 11-hour time period, including seven EF3 and two EF4 tornadoes. 2019 – The first known case of COVID-19 is traced to a 55-year-old man who had visited a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.

[because-its-eurovision]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last ten people who reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals & followers!! <3

Not in any order:

Crisp autumn mornings like the one we had today, when the sky is clear and sun is warm but the wind makes everything feel fresh and the leaves are starting to turn yellow and red and everything is colourful and nice 🍂

Movies and film festivals! The tickets to Helsinki International Film Festival came on sale today, and there are tens of interesting films I'd like to see and it's always so exciting to see ones that are from new countries, and go see stuff that was made in Angola or China or Romania or Venezuela or Georgia or Greenland or Morocco or wherever <3

Travelling, especially hanging out at airports and railway stations and seeing all the departures and thinking about the possibilities of where I could go, and finding the right gate or platform and holding the ticket and seeing the views change and the feeling of freedom that comes with it!

Organizing stuff, especially papers or documents or books chronologically or alphaphetically or by numbers is so satisfying. Also when you go through a messy closet or shelf and clean it and have new storage boxes and then you can just organize everything into them and it looks neat?? Best feeling ever.

Sometimes when I have the day off in the middle of the week or even better, an opportunity to go out in the middle of the workday for an hour or two, and I can quickly go to the library or pharmacy or bookstore or whatever, and even if it's all allowed it gives the rush like I'm skipping class at school (which I never did) and has the undertone of sneaky freedom and rebellion