SUN
WUKONG Blowing the whistle on 'Big
Brother' By Wu Zhong, China
Editor
HONG KONG - Just as Beijing
officials were breathing a sigh of relief that the
Olympic torch relay had finished its international
tour and returned to Chinese soil, last week's
fatal train accident in northern Shandong province
has sounded another alert for the country's
security and safety.
More importantly, the
accident has once again drawn public attention to
the fundamental problems inherent in the railway
system. In the past three decades of economic
reforms, other industrial ministries have spun off
their business operations to become industrial
regulators or have simply been dismantled. But the
Ministry of Railways remains a stronghold of the
command
economy, as it continues to
monopolize rail transportation while also acting
as the industry's regulating body.
The
annual session of the National People's Congress
(NPC) endorsed the latest restructuring of the
State Council, China's cabinet, to merge
ministries with similar functions into several
super ministries. The Ministry of Railways once
again escaped restructuring, despite early talks
that it would be merged into the Ministry of
Transportation and Communication. Now, after the
April 29 collision, calls are being renewed to
reform the Ministry of Railways into a business
operation with independent supervision.
The latest rail accident occurred in the
early morning on the Qingdao-Jinan railway in
Shandong province. A passenger train traveling
from Beijing to Qingdao jumped its tracks, leaving
nine of its carriages toppled across the rails,
and causing another passenger train coming from
the opposite direction to derail. At least 70
people were killed and another 416 injured.
According to Xinhua News Agency, an
initial investigation found the accident was
caused by human error. The derailed train was
traveling at 131 kilometers per hour before the
accident, far in excess of the speed limit of 80
km on that section of the Qingdao-Jinan railway.
If this proves true after investigations, the
conductor or conductors concerned must be held
directly responsible.
The tragedy is
apparently also a result of poor management and
supervision of the local railway authority; and
this is the second fatal accident in three months
under its jurisdiction. Immediately after the
accident, Beijing sacked the director of the Jinan
Railway Bureau, Chen Gong, and its Communist Party
chief, Cai Tiemin, and put them under
investigation.
Built in 1904, the
Qingdao-Jinan railway is one of the oldest lines
in China still in operation. As planned, this
century-old railway will stop carrying passengers
before the Beijing Olympics in August but will
continue to transport freight. A high-speed
passenger rail link is now under construction
ahead of the Games as Qingdao will play host to
the sailing competitions.
Fresh in the
minds of the public, however, is that in late
January - at the construction site of the new
Qingdao-Jinan high-speed passenger rail link - a
rolling train crushed 18 workers to death. It was
said at the time that the accident occurred
because the workers had started work earlier than
permitted by rules.
Two deadly accidents
have occurred in the space of three months; and in
addition to the persons directly responsible for
the accidents, the Jinan Railway Bureau must also
be held responsible.
With Chen and Cai
sacked, the question is whether Minister of
Railways Liu Zhijun will shoulder the blame and
step down. Many netizens are urging Beijing to
sack him if he refuses to resign. To support their
argument, many bloggers are recalling another
fatal rail accident 20 years ago. On January 24,
1988, an express train from Kunming to Shanghai
toppled, killing 90 passengers, including some
Japanese travelers. The minister of railways at the
time, Ding Guangen, known to be leader Deng
Xiaoping's favorite bridge partner, was to blame
and resigned. If Ding, close to the "supreme
leader" as he was, had to step down, why shouldn't
Liu?
According to an online survey by
1diaocha.com, by last Sunday 84% of participants
said Liu should step down.
In fact, many
Chinese have taken the opportunity to vent their
frustration with the poor quality of the country's
railway transport, particularly its shortcomings
during the yearly Spring Festival period. This
year, millions of passengers were stranded in
trains or in stations during the holiday due to
heavy snowstorms. With no apology, a spokesman for
the Ministry of Railways boasted that they had down
a good job under the circumstances. Such perceived
arrogance angered not only the public, but many
government officials.
Fundamental problems
exist in the railway system, analysts say. Not the
least of which is the fact that the Ministry of
Railways is both the monopoly operator and
regulator of all rail transportation. If this
system is not restructured - regardless of whether
Liu is replaced - nothing will change.
China's railways haul the heaviest loads
in the world. According to statistics, one third
of all public transport passengers and half of
transported freight in China are carried by rail.
According to official statistics, last year the
Chinese made 1.3 billion trips on the railway
network. This figure is expected to increase to
1.4 billion this year.
To meet growing
demand, the government has increased its
expenditure on rail links. Speeding up
construction of the railway network has become a
priority in national development plans. From 2003
to 2007, China spent US$71.5 billion on building
railways. And the government said it would put in
an additional $41.2 billion this year to build
high-speed railways, including the one linking
Beijing to Shanghai.
At present, some 2
million people work under the mammoth Ministry of
Railways, known as the "Big Brother" of government
agencies. In terms of manpower, it could match the
People's Liberation Army, and in fact China's
railway giant does operate in some semi-military
ways. The ministry runs its own schools,
hospitals, telecommunications and construction
companies. For such a gigantic bureaucratic body
to function efficiently while maintaining its own
regulation and supervision, would be surprising.
Fatal train accidents are frequent.
According to the State Administration of Work
Safety, in 2005 on average 20 people were killed
each day in rail accidents. It said the death toll
remarkably dropped in 2006 and 2007 without
providing figures.
It's high time for
Beijing to start restructuring the Ministry of
Railways, and public support is galvanizing in the
wake of the April 29 accident.
In this
regard, experience could be drawn from reform of
China's civil aviation industry. Before 2002, the
Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC),
similar to the Ministry of Railways, was the state
monopoly and regulator of the industry.
It
was equally inefficient in business operations and
ineffective in supervision. The CAAC, in fact, was
often interpreted as "China air flights always
canceled" or "China's aircraft always crash". But
after reform, business operations were spun off
from the CAAC to form commercial airlines and
what's left of the CAAC functions as the industry
regulator.
Without conflicts of interest,
it supervises the industry more effectively and
impartially. And while major airlines are still
state-owned or controlled, they are competing with
each for market share: forced to keep improving
their management, efficiency and services. As a
result, air accidents have been sharply reduced.
This summer will be a high-travel season.
With the Olympics, many people including
foreigners will be traveling across the country by
rail - and more travelers means more chances for
transport accidents. Whether Beijing will take the
April 29 accident as an opportunity to restructure
China's railway system is yet to be seen. But the
fatal accident has blown the whistle on an
underperforming government industry and calamities
that are waiting to happen.
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