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Mahesh

20/08/25 20:45 PM IST

China plans to connect the restive Xinjiang to Tibet

In News 
  • Recently, China established the Xinjiang-Xizang Railway Co Ltd, which state media described as a “significant step in the development of one of China’s most advanced transport projects”.
Infrastructure Development 
  • The plan to connect Xinjiang with Tibet has been mentioned in Chinese official documents for years, and is part of China’s policy to boost rail infrastructure in the region.
  • China opened the high-elevation Qinghai-Tibet Railway in 2006, linking Tibet with the rest of the country by rail for the first time.
  • The line, the highest in the world, is a remarkable feat of engineering — according to the government, about 85% of the route passes at an altitude of more than 4,000 metres, where the average annual temperature is below zero, and air oxygen content is only 50-60% of the standard in lowland areas.
  • The Xinjiang-Xizang line will run “from Hotan in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region to Shigatse and Lhasa in Xizang”, and will be “part of China’s five planned railway corridors into Xizang”
  • The Hotan-Shigatse railway line will be one part of a route that goes around Tibet-Xinjiang, Southern and Central Xinjiang, and Golmud in Qinghai province.
  • The railways constitute one layer of this connectivity loop; the other is an extensive road network. The new company has a registered capital of $13.22 billion, but the estimated cost of the project remains unknown.
China’s ‘Go West’ strategy

  • These infra projects picked up steady pace about two decades ago. “China started looking towards its western region with a “Go West” strategy in 2000. They identified 12 provinces for attention, including these two (Xinjiang and Tibet),”.
  • Official data show that between 2000 and 2016, the government invested 6.35 trillion yuan ($914 billion) in 300 major projects, mostly in the infrastructure and energy sectors, in China’s western region.
  • As it emerged strongly as a global economic force, China started to take a more assertive approach all-round. “Earlier, they largely believed in the philosophy of “hide your capability and bide your time”
Source- Indian Express 

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