On December 3, 2021, after a long construction period of six years, a 1,035-kilometer-long China-Laos-Wankun Railway from Vientiane, the capital of Laos, to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, was finally opened to traffic.
The China-Laos Railway was opened to trafficFor a time, the people along the line wholeheartedly welcomed, and Laos at all levels and foreign affairs units have issued documents to thank China.
However, at this moment of universal celebration, instead of blessing Laos' transportation improvement, the West ** poured dirty water on China.
said the BBCThe China-Laos Railway is actually a bureau laid out by China, and the ultimate goal is to trap the Lao economy. Not only will this railway not bring much real economic benefit to Laos, but it will also make Laos owe China a lot of debt, and in the end it will not be able to pay it back, so it can only hand over its sovereignty to China to pay off its debts.
Reuters said that the China-Laos railway passed through high mountains and dense forests, destroying the ecological environment and disturbing the habitat of bats. Bats, on the other hand, are carriers of a variety of unknown viruses. Therefore, the rash construction of railways in such places will inevitably increase the risk of virus spillover, which in turn will trigger a new round of "global health crisis".
Such accusations in the West are not so much a contradiction, but an incompetent rage. The more absurd and nonsensical their rumors and smears are, the more they can show that they are anxious. And the more anxious they are, the more they can prove that China is doing the right thing.
So, what has the completion of the China-Laos Railway brought to the people of the two countries? Why are Western countries in such a hurry?
First of all, the so-called "debt trap" proposed by the BBC is itself a false proposition that does not stand up to scrutiny.
In fact, instead of expecting Laos to pay back, China has helped them a lot.
It is reported that the estimated investment amount of the project is 7 billion US dollars. But for Laos, which lacks financial resources, this is a significant expense.
To this end, China has decided to share the project amount by 73 percent, with the Chinese side contributing 70 percent, while Laos** and its state-owned enterprises only need to bear 30 percent of it.
However, given that the economic situation in Laos is so bad, it is difficult for them to come up with even if they only need to pay 30%. After all, this is already a third of the country's GDP.
With that in mind,The Export-Import Bank of China decided to provide a loan to Laos, helping them to advance 60 percent of the money.
Unfortunately, the scene of China borrowing money from Laos was seen by sharp-eyed Westerners, so they made a fuss and spread rumors, saying that this was China playing a trick on Laos.
This is very much in line with the style of foreign media "every time you meet China, you must oppose it". In this case alone, they only see the amount of the loan, but selectively ignore the attributes of the loan itself.
In fact, China has provided Laos with low-interest loans for up to 30 years. After calculation, Laos only needs to pay back 0$700 million is enough. Moreover, China's loans never come with political strings attached.
So Laos doesn't have to worry about not being able to pay back the money, and has to pay off the debt of the ** sovereign or something, which is completely fabricated by the BBC out of thin air.
China does not expect Laos to pay off its debts immediatelyChina is more concerned with the long-term benefits of the railway to the people living along the line than with the collection of debts.
However, this point has also been denied by the WestBecause if this railway really becomes a road to prosperity, won't Laos be able to pay off its debts? So why do they continue to spread the "debt trap" claim?
Therefore, the West can only do everything possible to devalue the actual value of the China-Laos railwayIt's to be logically self-consistent.
Falsely claiming that the China-Laos railway is actually a big pie drawn by China for Laos, China has given the wrong project assessment in order to fool Laos, so that they can be saddled with unpaid debts in order to build the road, and then controlled by China, which will never be able to turn over.
What's even more ridiculous is that at the Australian National University, there is a lecturer's statement that has been widely cited by the West to question China. Here's what he said:
"Two-thirds of the people in Laos live in rural areas, earning up to US$116 a month. And the ticket from Vientiane to Boten alone costs as much as 13$30. ”The implication is that the Lao people can't afford to buy tickets at all, so even if the China-Laos railway is opened, there is not much market space, and it will most likely become an "empty train".
But is that really the case? This needs to be analyzed in the context of Laos.
Laos is one of the "least developed countries in the world". According to the World Bank, the country's total GDP hovers between $100 and $12 billion, and its per capita GDP is perennially below $3,000, with an economy dominated by agriculture and almost zero manufacturing.
And the reason why Laos will be poor,One is because during the Vietnam War, the U.S. military bombed the country indiscriminately, dropping hundreds of millions of bombsTo this day, more than 8,000 duds are still buried deep in the ground, which can happen at any time, resulting in a lot of land being abandoned;
The second reason is that Laos is deep inland and has no access to the sea, so it is a standard "land-locked country".
The sea and land transportation is inconvenient, and the foreign contact is more difficult than the "Shu Road", so the economy has not been able to develop.
As the saying goes, if you want to get rich, build roads first. It can be seen how important it is for Laos to have a complete railway.
If you want to build a road in a place like Laos, the first problem you have to face is that there are plateaus and mountains, and the terrain is undulating and uneven, followed by thousands of rivers.
Before the arrival of the Chinese, there was only one 3With a 5-kilometre-long railway, mines and unexploded ordnance that could not be dug up, transportation was largely dependent on roads.
As we all know, the problem of road transport is that it is greatly affected by natural factors such as landslides and debris flows, and safety and consistency are not guaranteed.
Short-distance transportation is fine, but long-distance transportation, especially heavy transportation, is prone to damage to goods.
These poor conditions have restricted the development of Laos to a great extent.
So in 2014, Laos ** to achieve the goal of poverty alleviationThe idea of a "land alliance" was proposed。To realize this vision, the construction of railways was the first priority.
However, as mentioned earlier, the geographical conditions of Laos are too unfriendly for investors. At that time, almost no country other than China was willing to undertake the project.
China is known for its strong infrastructure, as evidenced by the commissioning of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
In addition, the diplomatic relations between China and Laos are very good, so when facing difficulties, Laos first thought of China.
The benefits of the construction of the China-Laos railway, both for Laos and for China, are obvious. It is the West ** that has repeatedly denied it, but facts speak louder than words.
First of all, in the short term, as soon as the construction of the China-Laos railway begins, it will create at least 110,000 jobs in Laos, as well as local material procurement with a total price of up to 5.1 billion yuan.
And in the long run,The operation of the China-Laos Railway has greatly improved the transportation situation of Laos, strengthened the land connectivity and economic and trade exchanges between Laos and neighboring countries, improved the logistics efficiency and international competitiveness of Laos, attracted more foreign investment and technical cooperation, and allowed young people living in mountainous areas to have the opportunity to get out of the poor mountains and open up a new path of life.
In addition, according to international organizations, the China-Laos railway will carry 14 million passengers per year in the future, which will generate an increase of about 21% in the country's national income level
Therefore, Laos can rely on the subsequent tax increase to repay China's debts, and there is still a surplus to feed back the people's livelihood.
Second, for China, the completion of the China-Laos Railway can further enhance China's international influence.
You must know that from China's point of view, the country that can connect the China-Laos railway in the future is not only Laos.
The railway is bound to connect more countries in the north and south, as far as Thailand and Cambodia, as far as Malaysia, Singapore, and even the Strait of Malacca, all of which will be within its radiation.
In general, as an important node in the transportation integration between China and ASEAN countries, the China-Laos Railway will contribute to the in-depth promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia, so that China's economic development achievements can benefit more countries.
With the increase of China's international influence, the hegemony of Western countries in Southeast Asia will also be weakened, which will make the old international political and economic order dominated by the West precarious.
From this perspective, it is not difficult to understand why the West is in such a hurry because of the opening of this railway.
In fact, every time China makes a move, Western countries have to hack it again because they fear that their position will be threatened and challenged. Western countries have become accustomed to being colonial suzerains, so naturally they cannot see these former colonial people living a good life.
In fact, maliciously making false macroeconomic judgments and issuing wrong infrastructure investment proposals to lure developing countries into debt traps is what Western "economic killers" often do.
The West's smearing of China is more like treating others with themselves, and they are just forcibly imposing on China their own tricks of harming developing countries.
"Economic killers" often present themselves as top professionals in international institutions to paint a big picture for developing countries and trick them into investing in projects that make little economic sense.
If they don't have money, they ask them to borrow from the World Bank.
The World Bank is actually controlled by the Federal Reserve, so the United States has naturally become the creditor of these countries.
Historically, the economic assassin of the United States once fooled Indonesia to borrow money to repair the hydropower station, but after it was repaired, it was not used at all, and the country was burdened with debts that were difficult to repay, and was finally trapped by the American consortium.
Since the argument that denies the value of railways cannot be logically self-consistent, then the so-called debt trap is not valid.
Therefore, the West has begun to dig holes for the China-Laos Railway from the perspective of environment and ecology. What to say about the railway has disturbed the dragon veins of Laos, alarmed the local bats, allowed wild animals to carry unknown viruses into human society, and so on.
I have to say that such rumors actually have quite an audience market. After all, the pandemic has been a source of panic over the past few years. Health is the primary concern of people, and no one can predict what the next opportunity will be to open the box of the virus.
However, the West's worries are still too much.
In the process of project construction, China attaches great importance to ecological protection along the line, and sets "green and environmental protection" as the goal of railway construction.
The use of non-contact means such as remote sensing technology is fully used to carry out geological identification of deep mountain and old forests, which reduces the direct contact between prospectors and wild animals and plants. And try to replace the roadbed with tunnels and bridges, reserve ecological channels for the migration of wild animals, minimize the impact of engineering construction on the local environment, and make the West the best black and black.
According to the theory of the West, the people living in the mountainous areas deserve to live a "primitive" life and are not worthy of being civilized by modern times.
Creating a factory means that you pollute the environment and emit greenhouse gases, and building bridges and paving roads means that you disturb animals and spread viruses.
In fact, the scientific community has still not reached a conclusion on the origin of the new coronavirus.
Under such circumstances, Reuters based on a hypothetical position to smear the China-Laos railway and sow discord between China and foreign countries is really impure and sinister intentions.
It is also an outsider, China** has brought infinite hope to the Lao people to get out of the mountains and dense forests, while Western countries have left Laos with tens of millions of tons of Agent Orange and thousands of unexploded bombs.
That's it, what qualifications does the West have to accuse China of treating the Lao people badly?
Although the West is very good at promoting momentum and distorting facts, they still can't stop the determination of the Lao people to get rid of poverty and become rich, nor can they shake China's ambition to expand its international influence.
References: 1] The China-Laos Railway has sent more than 23 million passengers[n].Lee Seung-han; Li Tong. Yunnan**, 2023
2] Promote the "Belt and Road" cooperation to go deeper and more practicalWu Junning. Xiamen**, 2023