High-Speed Empire: Chinese Expansion and the Future of Southeast Asia

This is the story of the largest infrastructure project in the world: China's One Belt, One Road. China's infrastructure projects of colossal scale are constructed at rapid speed and have become China's calling card. The length of their expressways have now surpassed the U.S. Interstate Highway system and they built over 100 airports in the last fifteen years. The clean, efficient 365 mile-long Shanghai Metro is the largest subway in the world, with Beijing's a close second. The crown jewel of these ventures is China's high-speed rail system, the largest in the world. But China's most ambitious railway project isn't even taking place in China. With One Belt One Road, China plans to pull half the globe into its orbit using rail, roads, airports, and ships. Infrastructure has become China's foreign policy. This book takes the reader on-site to the construction of the Pan-Asia Railway Network, a railroad that will run from China to Singapore, helping China realize a long-held dream. But what happens when other countries won't cooperate? High-Speed Empire is the story of an audacious infrastructure project, a cautionary tale of China's new "railway diplomacy," and a revealing look at the world's newest empire builder at work.

Publisher: Columbia Global Reports
Published: 05/01/2018
Pages: 108
Weight: 0.3lbs
Size: 7.40h x 4.90w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9780997722987


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2018
Library Journal 05/15/2018 pg. 69

About the Author
Doig, Will: - 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.