Sperm-Doll Setsuna
10th March 2013, 17:38
In an unexpected turn of events, the ironically named Chinese "People's Congress" today announced that the Ministry of Railways is to be disbanded and its regulatory duties merged into the Ministry of Transport and its operative departments due to be corporatised, possibly as separate entities. This is the culmination of a long-lasting campaign. Already after the crash following a signalling error on one of the new high-speed lines in the summer of 2011, numerous angry voices were allowed to vent on assorted nationalist forums (i.e. the main Chinese news sites) about the anger they (so called 'netizens') felt at the Ministry.
The announcement comes after many rumours heralding precisely what was announced. The Ministry of Railways is the last remaining of the authorities which formed immediately after the 1949 'revolution', and has been able to survive for so long because of its integral status & that its political leadership made up something of a faction within the government. Its structure closely mimics the layout of the now-defunct Soviet Ministry of Railways, and employs over 2.1 million people.
What exactly will happen to the operative departments remains uncertain to some extent. Earlier proposals included partial privatisation with splits into "competing entities". It's likely the final product will approach something like this.
Although nonsense excuses like "fighting corruption within the Ministry" are used to justify this act, as well as general slogans like "increased effectiveness" (never heard that one before, have we?), what it is actually about is an increased market-orientation of the former Ministry. Because of its status as a Ministry, all expenses and expansion was funded by direct state grants, which accumulated a considerable debt, and this also prevented - and this is most important - stock trading and foreign and domestic direct investment. Because of the vast expansion plan of the last few years, which has increased the total length and reach of the railways, the Ministry has a great deal of debt. The government, very reluctant in general to spend, would like to decrease its own investment and increase the contribution by private investors.
This final slaughter of the MOR has been proceeded by a number of other things. Most noteworthy is that a few railways, particularly the Daqin Railway Company, were formed as separate but nominally "state-owned" private companies in order to allow outside investment to fund the construction project, rather than rely on the state granting funding.
The new fanciful high-speed services of latter years are prohibitively expensive for most people in China, and already there have been those suggesting the existing MOR has been delaying and decreasing the frequency of lower-fare services and attempts to make them less appealing. This process is not likely to be reversed. Ticket prices, except the expresses, have remained at the same level for the last 10 years. Experience from similar events in the history of the world generally reveal ticket price hikes.
Motorisation is picking up in China. Already most of the road infrastructure is at breaking point, particularly within urban centres. The land is dotted with enormous motorways, soon - if not at time of writing already - surpassing the length of the U.S. grade-separated motorway network. The death of the Ministry of Railways is the end of an era, and yet to this day and age we have now and then the unfortunate one who clings to some inane notion that China is still socialist, that China is not merely another capitalist nation. Not even a Maoist could make such an inaccurate argument.
I am of course not suggesting that having a Ministry of Railways makes a country socialist, mind you. What I am saying is that the Capitalist Party of China long ago fully and totally committed itself to capitalism. It's economic policy is wholly a balancing act between on the one hand preventing social upheaval and disharmony, and on the other doing exactly what the World Bank advisor's suggested - with results to match. The breaking up of the Ministry of Railways is only the last of many such things to happen. The point is that, those that support China of 1949-1970' or so as socialist (mind you, I do not), are utterly and definitely wrong, and furthermore also plain daft, if they maintain an allegiance to the PRC of today.
This, further, leaves the Ministry of Railways of India as the last remaining Soviet-inspired Railway organisation. It, too, faces similar sinister plots as the Chinese one.
The announcement comes after many rumours heralding precisely what was announced. The Ministry of Railways is the last remaining of the authorities which formed immediately after the 1949 'revolution', and has been able to survive for so long because of its integral status & that its political leadership made up something of a faction within the government. Its structure closely mimics the layout of the now-defunct Soviet Ministry of Railways, and employs over 2.1 million people.
What exactly will happen to the operative departments remains uncertain to some extent. Earlier proposals included partial privatisation with splits into "competing entities". It's likely the final product will approach something like this.
Although nonsense excuses like "fighting corruption within the Ministry" are used to justify this act, as well as general slogans like "increased effectiveness" (never heard that one before, have we?), what it is actually about is an increased market-orientation of the former Ministry. Because of its status as a Ministry, all expenses and expansion was funded by direct state grants, which accumulated a considerable debt, and this also prevented - and this is most important - stock trading and foreign and domestic direct investment. Because of the vast expansion plan of the last few years, which has increased the total length and reach of the railways, the Ministry has a great deal of debt. The government, very reluctant in general to spend, would like to decrease its own investment and increase the contribution by private investors.
This final slaughter of the MOR has been proceeded by a number of other things. Most noteworthy is that a few railways, particularly the Daqin Railway Company, were formed as separate but nominally "state-owned" private companies in order to allow outside investment to fund the construction project, rather than rely on the state granting funding.
The new fanciful high-speed services of latter years are prohibitively expensive for most people in China, and already there have been those suggesting the existing MOR has been delaying and decreasing the frequency of lower-fare services and attempts to make them less appealing. This process is not likely to be reversed. Ticket prices, except the expresses, have remained at the same level for the last 10 years. Experience from similar events in the history of the world generally reveal ticket price hikes.
Motorisation is picking up in China. Already most of the road infrastructure is at breaking point, particularly within urban centres. The land is dotted with enormous motorways, soon - if not at time of writing already - surpassing the length of the U.S. grade-separated motorway network. The death of the Ministry of Railways is the end of an era, and yet to this day and age we have now and then the unfortunate one who clings to some inane notion that China is still socialist, that China is not merely another capitalist nation. Not even a Maoist could make such an inaccurate argument.
I am of course not suggesting that having a Ministry of Railways makes a country socialist, mind you. What I am saying is that the Capitalist Party of China long ago fully and totally committed itself to capitalism. It's economic policy is wholly a balancing act between on the one hand preventing social upheaval and disharmony, and on the other doing exactly what the World Bank advisor's suggested - with results to match. The breaking up of the Ministry of Railways is only the last of many such things to happen. The point is that, those that support China of 1949-1970' or so as socialist (mind you, I do not), are utterly and definitely wrong, and furthermore also plain daft, if they maintain an allegiance to the PRC of today.
This, further, leaves the Ministry of Railways of India as the last remaining Soviet-inspired Railway organisation. It, too, faces similar sinister plots as the Chinese one.