New Strategic Sichuan-Tibet Railway Link To Strengthen Border Defense – Analysis (r)

 SOURCE;

https://www.eurasiareview.com/10112020-new-strategic-sichuan-tibet-railway-link-to-strengthen-border-defense-analysis/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eurasiareview%2FVsnE+%28Eurasia+Review%29

Train passes on railway in Tibet

Analysis

New Strategic Sichuan-Tibet Railway Link To Strengthen Border Defense 

                                By

                     Prof Ashok Tiku*

Railway upto SHIGATSE (Xigaze) is complete. All tunnels and bridges upto Nyingchi are complete . Nyigchi to be commisoned  by December 2022 and Chumbi Valley under planning

 

November 10, 2020

Chinese President XI is calling for expediting the construction of the new railway line connecting Lhasa with Chengdu to strengthen border defense.

China announced its intention to connect Tibet with another new railway line  — the Sichuan-Tibet railway line to protect China’s borders.  On the eve of starting the construction of this new route, Chinese president said (Xinhua Nov 9) that the new route will be key to safeguarding China’s national unity and consolidating border stability and called for building the railway line expeditiously by “concentrating resources “ for its completion. 

Recently China Railway announced the bidding results for the construction of two tunnels and one bridge, as well as the power supply project for the Ya’an—Linzhi         ( Ya’an-Nyingchi) section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway. This will be the second railway line connecting Tibet with China and will shorten the travel time to Lhasa from 48 hours to just 13 hours. The  Sichuan-Tibet railway line starts from Cheng du, the capital of Sichuan province and the  new addition  Ya’an-Nyinngchi section will be 1,011 kms long, and includes 26 stations when completed — taking Chinese railway right up to the disputed boundary with India. The cost of the project is estimated at 319.8 billion yuan.

It would be interesting to recall that China started the railway survey of linking Lhasa with China in late 80s and the survey team had submitted three links for railway connectivity with Tibet:

1. Connecting Lhasa with Chengdu, Si-Zang raiway
2. Connecting Lhasa with Kunming, Yun-Zang raiway
3. Connecting Lhasa with Germu, Qing-Zang railway

The expert committee had recommended the first and second options for connecting Lhasa with China as against the Qing-Zang railway third option, as these two options were shorter, cheaper and easier to build.

Nevertheless, the then-CMC did not approve it on security considerations arguing that these railway lines run close to the Indian Border and would pose a security challenge. As such, it hence preferred the circuitous, the longest, and costliest, as well as the hazardous route, that passes through the high altitude point of 5,072 meters, for safety and security concerns to connect Lhasa with Germu along the Qing-Zang line 

Chengdu, has always served as a vital gateway city to Tibet in southwest China. Currently, the supplies from Chengdu to Lhasa come via the Chengdu-Lhasa train (Z322), covering 3,070km across 5 provinces, with a total duration of 36:18hrs. Now this distance can be covered by this short direct route train in only 13 hrs. The new line will pass through Linzhi located close to Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh .

The Qing-Lhasa line at1,956 kms long (Xi Ning-Germu 815 kms, Germu-Lhasa 1,142kms) opened in 2006  and has now been extended to Shigaze (280 kms) to link later with Yadong, and Kathmandu and finally to Lumbini close to the India-Nepal border. The project planned in 2008 is now expected to be completed in 2025, but construction costs (US$ 300 million) remain a worry as the line faces hurdles because of the terrain.

The proposed Kerung-Kathmandu linkup is part of BRI project entering Nepal in Rasuwan district and will eventually link it with India. The feasibility report for this additional link was prepared in late 2018 and technically a tough project as 98% of the line in Nepal passes through tunnels and bridges with about five stations. Tracks are to be built on steep terrain and the line climbs from an altitude of 1,400M in Kathmandu to 4,000M in Tibet, costing 28 billion yuan. Although only one third of the total length falls on the Nepal side, it had to account for half the costs due to  difficult terrain conditions in Nepal. It was supposed to reach Kerung (Tibet) by 2020, but has supposedly been delayed and pushed to 2025.

The Nepal-China cross border railway was listed as part of trans-Himalayan connectivity network at the BRI forum Beijing (April 2019). The cost and profitability of the project is a cause of concern as Nepal has a trade deficit with China of $12.8 (2019) equal to nearly half of Nepal’s GDP. Nepal’s exports to China fell by 30% (2019) and the train will have to run practically empty from Nepal unless India also joins this network.

The new railway route linking Lhasa with Cheng du is strategically of utmost importance facilitating speedy mobility of forces from Cheng du to Tibet and other border regions near Indian border. President Xi’s intervention to expedite construction reflects the importance that China attaches to this project. However, what is worth noting is that China had earlier warned India and expressed concern on building the Twang railway link (1-4-2017) linking Twang with the Indian railway network.

*Prof Ashok Tiku, is a Senior China Analyst with 45 years of experience.

China Plans to Build Rail Link with Nepal through Mt Everest

SOURCE: 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3031966/China-plans-rail-tunnel-UNDERNEATH-Mount-Everest-link-country-Nepal.html

China Plans Rail Tunnel UNDERNEATH Mount Everest Which Would Link the Country with Nepal 

• Expansion of Qinghai-Tibet line would go under world's highest mountain
• Chinese say they plan to finish the huge project within five years 
• If built railway will impact on India's relationship with key economies 

                                    By

 

          Elaine O'flynn For Mailonline and Afp

 

 

 

Published:  April 2015

A tunnel could be built under Mount Everest as part of a new railway between China and Nepal, it has been revealed.

 

 

Chinese state media has reported that the government is planning to expand the Qinghai to Tibet railway 'at Nepal's request' - which could include a tunnel under the world's tallest mountain - by 2020.

 

 

The step is important politically as it shows Beijing building links with Nepal, a country India regards as firmly within its sphere of influence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A tunnel could be built under Mount Everest in the Himalayas as part of grand new plans announced by China

 

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited Kathmandu in December and, according to Nepalese reports, said the line could eventually be extended to the Nepalese capital and further - creating a crucial link between China and the huge markets of India.

 

 

'The line will probably have to go through Qomolangma so that workers may have to dig some very long tunnels,' expert Wang Mengshu told the Chinese Daily newspaper, referring to Everest by its Tibetan name.

 

 

He said that, due to the challenging Himalayan terrain with its 'remarkable' changes in elevation, trains on any line to Kathmandu would probably have a maximum speed of 120 kilometres per hour.

 

 

The new plans underline China's increasing influence in Nepal, after years of improving the infrastructure of the nation.

 

 

 

 

A map shows where the extension of the Qinghai-Tibet railway could be built - under Mount Everest

 

 

As well as building roads, it has invested billions of dollars in hydropower and telecommunications.

 

 

Chinese tourism to Nepal, which is home to eight of the world's 14 peaks over 8,000 metres, is also climbing.

Beijing's increasing role has raised alarms in New Delhi that China, already closely allied to Pakistan, is forging closer economic ties with Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal in a deliberate strategy to encircle India.

 

 

 

In an apparent counter-move, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged late last year that South Asia's largest economy would fund a series of regional investments and free up its markets to its neighbours' exporters.

 

 

 

 

A train run along the existing Qinghai-Tibet railway towards Lhasa, capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region

 

 

But India has struggled to compete with China's financial strength.

 

Human rights groups have criticised China's plans to expand the rail network in Tibet.

 

The International Campaign for Tibet has warned of the project's 'dangerous implications for regional security and the fragile ecosystem of the world's highest and largest plateau'.

 

'The Chinese government's claim that rail expansion on the plateau simply benefits tourism and lifts Tibetans out of poverty does not hold up to scrutiny and cannot be taken at face value,' ICT president Matteo Mecacci said in a statement last year

SEE ALSO:
http://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/china-plans-to-build-rail-link-with-nepal-through-mt-everest/ar-AAaCTSh
China Plans to Build Rail Link with Nepal through Mt Everest

 

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Beijing:  China plans to build a 540-kilometre strategic high-speed rail link between Tibet and Nepal passing through a tunnel under Mt Everest, a move that could raise alarm in India about the Communist giant's growing influence in its neighbourhood."A proposed extension of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to the China-Nepal border through Tibet would boost bilateral trade and tourism as there is currently no rail line linking the two countries," state-run China Daily reported today.

The rail line was expected to be completed by 2020.

However, there was no word on the cost of the project.

The 1,956-km long Qinghai-Tibet railway already links therest of China with the Tibetan capital Lhasa and beyond.

Wang Mengshu, a rail expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that engineers will face a number of difficulties once the project begins.

"If the proposal becomes reality, bilateral trade, especially in agricultural products, will get a strong boost, along with tourism and people-to-people exchanges," he said.

Such a plan could see a tunnel being built under Mount Everest, the China Daily said.

"The changes in the elevation along the line are remarkable. The line is probably have to go through Qomolangma so that worker may have to dig some very long tunnels," Wang said. Qomolangma Mountain is the Tibetan name for Mt Everest.

 

 

24 things you need to know before climbing Mount Everest

 

Restrained by rugged Himalayan mountains with its"remarkable" changes in elevation, trains on the line wouldprobably have a maximum speed of 120 kmph.

Wang said that the project is being undertaken at Nepal's request and that China has begun preparatory work.

Losang Jamcan, Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, told Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav during his visit to Tibet's provincial capital Lhasa last month that China plans to extend the Tibet railway to Kermug, the Chinese town nearest to Nepal border where a border trade port has been built.

Besides Nepal, China had earlier announced plans to extend its Tibetan rail network to Bhutan and India.

During his recent visit to Nepal, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had asked the officials to conduct a feasibility study to extend the rail network to Kathmandu and beyond, the report said.

Hu Shisheng, Director of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told official media earlier that the aim of the rail line is to simply improve the local economies and people's livelihoods.

China has been scaling up its ties with Nepal much to thechagrin of India to stem the flow of Tibetans travelling through Nepal to meet the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala.

Beijing recently increased its annual aid to Nepal to USD128 million from the previous USD 24 million.