, Columnist
China’s Railway Diplomacy Is Losing Steam in Asia
After initial enthusiasm, passengers haven’t embraced Indonesia’s bullet train.
Photographer: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images
China’s grand plan to connect Asia with high-speed rail was meant to highlight the superiority of its state-led modernization. But as delays mount and debts pile up, Beijing’s rail diplomacy is running into trouble. That gives rival Japan — a key US ally — an opening it hasn’t enjoyed in years.
Their competition is about far more than trains. It’s about how future economic power will evolve across the Indo-Pacific. With each new railway line comes years of debt repayments, maintenance contracts and training that bind countries to each other.