西恩电子血压计ld-581:The PLA’s "Orient Express": Militarization of...

来源：百度文库 编辑：九乡新闻网 时间：2024/04/28 16:01:00

The PLA’s "Orient Express": Militarization of the Iron Silk Road



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Indeed, in applying this strategic vision, on November 17, 2010, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) took the Shanghai-Nanjing express train for the first time to return to their barracks after completing security duty at the Shanghai World Expo 2010. According to the Military Representative Office of the PLA stationed at the Shanghai Railway Bureau, the Shanghai-Nanjing express railway is an inter-city railway that can run at a maximum speed of 350 kilometers (km) per hour. Some Chinese military analysts touted this as an ideal way for the PLA to project troops and light equipment in military operations other than war .



China has built rail lines to Tibet, is building connections to Nepal, and is planning high-speed rails to Laos, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and (Myanmar. On November 15 last year, then Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced that Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan had agreed to cooperate with China to build a China-Iran rail link from Xinjiang, passing through Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and finally arriving in Iran .



The longer plan seems to connect westward into Iraq (where China has large oil & gas investments), Syria, Turkey, and onto Europe. This is based on an overall UN-sponsored Trans-Asia Railway (TAR) network to link China to Europe, using the Middle East as a transit hub .


Although the UN engineered the TAR agreement, China has done more than any other nation to re-forge trade and transport links to reestablish the Silk Route. Negotiations are already underway with 17 countries across Eurasia.  With China's high-speed trains having clocked speeds as high as 486.1 km/h (302 mph) , and the PLA aggressively upgrading its long-range combat capabilities by using rail as logistical support for its air force (PLAAF) and troop projection, this new ‘Orient Express’ across the revived Silk Road will have important military and strategic implications for U.S. and Western interests in the region.


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Military requirements are part of China’s rail development, and the PLA actively participates in the design and planning of China’s high-speed rail. For example, Chengdu Railway Bureau has 14 military officers taking lead positions in key departments at all major stations, are tasked to coordinate railway planning, design, construction, timing of requirements and track implementation . Shenyang Railway Bureau, which is in the strategic location of Liaoning


In 2009, large sums of money were invested to build military transportation facilities for a few railway stations and military platforms for loading and unloading materials.  This investment was made to meet military requirements used for activities such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) Peace Mission in 2010 .


With China’s expansionist policy and infrastructure projects toward its neighbors, some analysts are beginning to sound the alarm on the militarization of these projects.


For example, Konstantin Syroyezhkin, in Kazakhstan’s Institute of Strategic Studies, points out the rapid development of road and railroad infrastructure in Central Asia with Chinese participation may be used for future PLA troop deployments in case of a serious conflict threatening China’s security or strategic interests. This concern is corroborated by the recent SCO Peace Mission 2010 military exercise, whereby China transported troops to Kazakhstan by rail .


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China’s ambitious high-speed rail projects across Asia and the Middle East have important strategic implications.  It links up poorer regions with more prosperous regions, provides jobs during an economic downturn, and allows Chinese military and security services to better project power both within and outside the country’s borders.  While air transport is faster, it is limited to fewer people and lighter gear, whereas rail is a crucial means for moving soldiers and heavy equipment, and is much easier to sustain logistically.  


As China’s economic and energy portfolio continues to increase in the Greater Middle East, there may be future conditions under which the PLA might deploy troops using high-speed rails for MOOTW to protect its strategic interests.  Indeed, in January 2011 there were reports that the PLA had deployed troops to the economic zone of Rajin-Sonbong in northeast North Korea in order to "guard port facilities China has invested in".  Whether this is a telltale sign of what may happen with China’s interests in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, will still remain a mystery for the future of the PLA’s Orient Express.
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