Thursday, July 06, 2006
Launching to the sky - fireworks, missile or train?
While we were being dazzled by July 4th fireworks dancing across our skies here in the US, there were two significant skyward events happening else where in the world - N.Korea and China.
No points for guessing the first one. Even though the much publicized, chest thumping N.Korea's missile testing was a spectacular failure, it was making a point. The timing of doing it around July 4th and the impact it has with S.Korea, Japan and the US are still resounding. We will have to wait and see how this N.Korea - US grandstanding evolves.
The other news didn't draw much attention but in my opinion has tremendous significance. China inaugurated the world's highest railway - a 710 mile railway line which reaches 16,000 ft above sea level connecting Beijing to Lhasa. Few decades and $4.1Bil later chinese government has silently asserted its control over Tibet. Besides the fact that this is an engineering marvel, the political impact its going to bring about is huge. Tibetians are wary of this unwelcome intrusion citing that enhanced transportation links will accelerate Chinese intrusion and smother their culture and environment. Chinese government cite region's progress as their primary motive but we can certainly deduce that its as much to do with getting Tibet under control.
No points for guessing the first one. Even though the much publicized, chest thumping N.Korea's missile testing was a spectacular failure, it was making a point. The timing of doing it around July 4th and the impact it has with S.Korea, Japan and the US are still resounding. We will have to wait and see how this N.Korea - US grandstanding evolves.
The other news didn't draw much attention but in my opinion has tremendous significance. China inaugurated the world's highest railway - a 710 mile railway line which reaches 16,000 ft above sea level connecting Beijing to Lhasa. Few decades and $4.1Bil later chinese government has silently asserted its control over Tibet. Besides the fact that this is an engineering marvel, the political impact its going to bring about is huge. Tibetians are wary of this unwelcome intrusion citing that enhanced transportation links will accelerate Chinese intrusion and smother their culture and environment. Chinese government cite region's progress as their primary motive but we can certainly deduce that its as much to do with getting Tibet under control.
# posted by Bala Girisaballa : 1:19 PM
