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High-Speed Empire

Chinese Expansion and the Future of Southeast Asia
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
High-Speed Empire recounts China's rapid rise as a global leader in high-speed rail, building a network of 14,000 miles in under a decade. The book explores China's ambitious Pan-Asia Railway under the One Belt One Road initiative, which aims to connect Southeast Asia with a vast imperial railroad reaching Singapore. Journalist Will Doig investigates the economic, political, and cultural impacts of this trillion-dollar venture by visiting countries like Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, revealing the hopes and challenges faced by the region's people.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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This title is essential for readers interested in contemporary history, infrastructure development, and geopolitics, particularly those wanting to understand China's expanding influence in Southeast Asia and the broader world.

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The story of the world's most audacious infrastructure project.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The story of the world's most audacious infrastructure project.

Less than a decade ago, China did not have a single high-speed train in service. Today, it owns a network of 14,000 miles of high-speed rail, far more than the rest of the world combined. Now, China is pushing its tracks into Southeast Asia, reviving a century-old colonial fantasy of an imperial railroad stretching to Singapore; and kicking off a key piece of the One Belt One Road initiative, which has a price tag of $1 trillion and reaches inside the borders of more than 60 countries.

The Pan-Asia Railway portion of One Belt One Road could transform Southeast Asia, bringing shiny Chinese cities, entire economies, and waves of migrants where none existed before. But if it doesn't succeed, that would be a cautionary tale about whether a new superpower, with levels of global authority unimaginable just a decade ago, can pull entire regions into its orbit simply with tracks, sweat, and lots of money.

Journalist Will Doig travelled to Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore to chronicle the dramatic transformations taking place β€” and to find out whether ordinary people have a voice in this moment of economic, political, and cultural collision.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780997722987

Publisher: Columbia Global Reports

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 14 June 2018

Country: United States

Imprint: Columbia Global Reports

Illustration: 1 Maps

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 127.0mm

Height: 190.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 107

About the Author

Will Doig is a journalist covering urban development, transportation, and infrastructure. Most recently, he was a senior editor at George Soros's Open Society Foundations. He has worked as an international editor at Next City, an online magazine about urbanism; a contributing writer at Salon, where he wrote the weekly "Dream City" column; and a senior editor at The Daily Beast. He was a recurring guest on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" and his work has been republished in two books. A graduate of George Washington University, he lives in New York City.

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