scepticus Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Saturday night's crash killed at least 38 people and was China's deadliest rail disaster since 2008, raising new questions about the safety of the fast-growing and high-profile high-speed rail network. The central propaganda department issued directives to media on Sunday for coverage of the accident. "The major theme for the Wenzhou bullet train case from now on will be known as 'in the face of great tragedy, there's great love'," the department said, according to a copy of the directives posted on a web site called the "ministry of truth", that regularly posts copies of government orders. "Do not question, do not elaborate." Reporters with state media who saw the directives confirmed to Reuters the propaganda department's media guidance on the crash. The department also told media not to "investigate the cause of the accident", and reminded journalists that "the word from the authorities is all-prevailing". http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/25/us-china-train-censorship-idUSTRE76O1IG20110725 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 I posted about the crash here Interesting that the media are being asked to cover it up and not ask questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_ichikawa Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 At which they automatically induce the Streisand effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect It doesn't matter because its already gotten out on Baidu and Weibo already. But hey crashes like these don't happen in modern first world countries right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inflating Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Chinese Media Sensors Totally Lose The Plot WTF are they thinking? Censors would seem the correct word in that context. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superted187 Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 But whats there to cover up? There was a train crash. It was an accident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_ichikawa Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 But whats there to cover up? There was a train crash. It was an accident. Have you ever read the book 1984? The government of airstrip one, pretends to be ever diligent ever watchful and infallible. Rewriting history to make itself look good or the citizens better than they are. Tractor and boots production up for example exceeding BBs estimates. China is a bit like that, you have Wen Jinbao standing in front of the new terminal saying this is what new china looks like etc etc etc... 6 months on it isn't as good as they say it is.... thus they distance themselves from it. Much like the 3 gorges dam. This was heralded as the best thing since sliced bread and they were showing it off like no tomorrow. Massive cracked then started to appear (literally) in the dam and thus they distanced themselves from it because it dents the indomitable image they happen to want to display. You know like how the British government murders inconvenient people? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Eagle Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 You know like how the British government murders inconvenient people? Naaah, it's always suicides or tragic accidents, the British government or the royals would never murder anyone... Even a war criminal like Tony Blair wouldn't... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccaneer Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Stephen Chen Jan 10, 2011 Construction of the mainland's massive high-speed rail network is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. The breakneck speed at which track is being laid means engineers are likely to have to sacrifice quality for quantity on the lines' foundations which could ultimately halve their lifespan. The problem lies in the use of high-quality fly ash, a fine powder chemically identical to volcanic ash, collected from the chimneys of coal-fired power plants. When mixed with cement and gravel, it can give the tracks' concrete base a lifespan of 100 years. According to a study by the First Survey and Design Institute of China Railways in 2008, coal-fired power plants on the mainland could produce enough high-quality fly ash for the construction of 100 kilometres of high-speed railway tracks a year. But more than 1,500 kilometres of track have been laid annually for the past five years. This year 4,500 kilometres of track will be laid with the completion of the world's longest high-speed railway line, between Beijing and Shanghai. Fly ash required for that 1,318-kilometre line would be more than that produced by all the coal-fired power plants in the world. Enter low-quality fly ash. Professor Wang Lan , lead scientist at the Cement and New Building Materials Research Institute under the China Building Materials Academy, said that given poor quality control on the mainland, the use of low-quality fly ash, and other low-grade construction materials, was "almost inevitable" in high-speed railway construction. And that could have fatal consequences, Wang said. With a catalytic function almost opposite to that of good fly ash, the bad fly ash could significantly weaken railway line foundations and shorten a railway's lifespan by about half. That would mean China's high-speed rail tracks would last only 50 years. But Zhu Ming - a researcher at Southwest Jiaotoing University's School of Civil Engineering who experimented with fly ash at a Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway construction site last year - was even more pessimistic. The use of low-quality fly ash would threaten the safety of rail passengers and "judgment day" might come sooner than expected, Zhu said. "Quality problems with Chinese high-speed railways will arise in five years," he said. "I'm not talking about small problems, but big problems. Small problems such as occasional cracks and slips that delay trains for hours have already occurred. Big problems that will postpone an entire line for days, if not weeks, will come soon. "When that happens, the miracle of Chinese high-speed rail will be reduced to dust." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okaycuckoo Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Stephen Chen Jan 10, 2011 Construction of the mainland's massive high-speed rail network is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. The breakneck speed at which track is being laid means engineers are likely to have to sacrifice quality for quantity on the lines' foundations which could ultimately halve their lifespan. The problem lies in the use of high-quality fly ash, a fine powder chemically identical to volcanic ash, collected from the chimneys of coal-fired power plants. When mixed with cement and gravel, it can give the tracks' concrete base a lifespan of 100 years. According to a study by the First Survey and Design Institute of China Railways in 2008, coal-fired power plants on the mainland could produce enough high-quality fly ash for the construction of 100 kilometres of high-speed railway tracks a year. But more than 1,500 kilometres of track have been laid annually for the past five years. This year 4,500 kilometres of track will be laid with the completion of the world's longest high-speed railway line, between Beijing and Shanghai. Fly ash required for that 1,318-kilometre line would be more than that produced by all the coal-fired power plants in the world. Enter low-quality fly ash. Professor Wang Lan , lead scientist at the Cement and New Building Materials Research Institute under the China Building Materials Academy, said that given poor quality control on the mainland, the use of low-quality fly ash, and other low-grade construction materials, was "almost inevitable" in high-speed railway construction. And that could have fatal consequences, Wang said. With a catalytic function almost opposite to that of good fly ash, the bad fly ash could significantly weaken railway line foundations and shorten a railway's lifespan by about half. That would mean China's high-speed rail tracks would last only 50 years. But Zhu Ming - a researcher at Southwest Jiaotoing University's School of Civil Engineering who experimented with fly ash at a Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway construction site last year - was even more pessimistic. The use of low-quality fly ash would threaten the safety of rail passengers and "judgment day" might come sooner than expected, Zhu said. "Quality problems with Chinese high-speed railways will arise in five years," he said. "I'm not talking about small problems, but big problems. Small problems such as occasional cracks and slips that delay trains for hours have already occurred. Big problems that will postpone an entire line for days, if not weeks, will come soon. "When that happens, the miracle of Chinese high-speed rail will be reduced to dust." A shopping centre local to me built a two storey car park, capacity probably 2000, about six years ago. Very flash, new road layout etc. Then bits of the structure started to fall off and the local authority closed down the whole centre. The quality of concrete was blamed on Polish workmen, but then the engineers confessed that they'd used inferior materials. Place is still open, litigation rumbling through the courts, and the roof of the ground floor is trussed up in nets to stop flaking concrete falling on cars. Anyway - all you need to know about the Chinese government: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai_Weiwei#2011_arrest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 "Quality problems with Chinese high-speed railways will arise in five years," he said. "I'm not talking about small problems, but big problems. Small problems such as occasional cracks and slips that delay trains for hours have already occurred. Big problems that will postpone an entire line for days, if not weeks, will come soon. "When that happens, the miracle of Chinese high-speed rail will be reduced to dust." This appears to confirm my suspicions in the other thread where I suggested it might be more reflective of poor quality construction etc... rather than just pure bad luck. Although you then wonder have Chinese engineers cut corners with everything to get the job done? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest_bridges_in_the_world How many of these bridges have they cut corners on? Some of these are huge and are miles long, are these starting to crack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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