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The Bridge is a political statement, nothing more. Few will use it, not least due to the complexity and political approval required for permits from 3 different

The Bridge is a political statement, nothing more. Few will use it, not least due to the complexity and political approval required for permits from 3 different authorities. The Hong Kong subway was designed and built during Hong Kong's time under British administration, and built as a public programme under the HK Council. It would have been far larger but for the oil crisis, but expanded a dozen times between then and now, even after privatisation in 2000. Broadly in line with HK's development, and in a way that would have been difficult to replicate back in the UK. The governance that makes HK such a success was nothing to do with Beijing. That was the whole point of the initial emphasis on two systems during handover. Since the 1997 handover Beijing has progressively weakened and interfered with HK, to barely a peep from the West, not even Britain. Only this week there's been reports of the last truly free bookshop (where one might find anything critical of Beijing), once a vibrant aspect of HK, has closed thanks to Beijing pressure. You might have heard the recent reports of the kidnappings of booksellers and publishers. Hong Kong was a special, free, window into China until the early 2010's. Please don't give Beijing any credit for it.

imgabe 8y ago
Ok, fair enough. I have been to mainland China as well, and the infrastructure there is equally impressive. Whether it's HK or Beijing, there is some fundamental difference between them and the US and other Western countries that seems to make it possible to build public infrastructure there but not here. We need to figure out what it is and fix it, because whatever the US is doing it's not working compared to China and HK. I live in the capital of the supposedly most powerful country in the world and the basic mechanics of getting from point A to point B are an embarrassment. Look at the difference between these political statements. One is a tangible object: one of the longest bridges in the world that people could actually use to do something faster than they did before. The "political statement" from western leaders is a quote in an article in a journal that only policy wonks read. I wonder which will have more impact?
- semperdark 8y ago
  China uses infrastructure spending to stimulate the economy, at the expense of enormous amounts of debt. A lot of this spending goes to essentially unproductive construction, like building subway systems larger than NYC's in small cities. It remains to be seen whether this will pay off, but they were significantly cutting back on spending before the tariffs started.

imgabe 8y ago

Ok, fair enough. I have been to mainland China as well, and the infrastructure there is equally impressive. Whether it's HK or Beijing, there is some fundamental difference between them and the US and other Western countries that seems to make it possible to build public infrastructure there but not here. We need to figure out what it is and fix it, because whatever the US is doing it's not working compared to China and HK. I live in the capital of the supposedly most powerful country in the world and the basic mechanics of getting from point A to point B are an embarrassment. Look at the difference between these political statements. One is a tangible object: one of the longest bridges in the world that people could actually use to do something faster than they did before. The "political statement" from western leaders is a quote in an article in a journal that only policy wonks read. I wonder which will have more impact?

semperdark 8y ago
China uses infrastructure spending to stimulate the economy, at the expense of enormous amounts of debt. A lot of this spending goes to essentially unproductive construction, like building subway systems larger than NYC's in small cities. It remains to be seen whether this will pay off, but they were significantly cutting back on spending before the tariffs started.