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Commentary: XpressWest's termination of high-speed rail project with China smells of protectionism, hurts interests of both

Xinhua, June 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

The unilateral cancellation of a high-speed passenger rail contract by U.S. company XpressWest has not only hurt the interests of China Railway International (CRI), but also set a bad precedent that would retard bilateral cooperation in the area.

According to the cooperation framework deal signed by the two sides in September 2015, one side should not release related information without approval by the other.

It is obvious that XpressWest's double-dealing maneuver which maintained talks and promised to spare no efforts to defend CRI's interests on the one hand and suddenly called off cooperation on the other has violated legal terms reached by both sides.

CRI has expressed opposition to the U.S. company's decision and has been dealing with the case according to law.

The pretext provided by XpressWest's CEO Tony Marnell saying terminating joint venture activities with CRI was "based upon difficulties associated with timely performance and CRI's challenges in obtaining required authority" sounds ridiculous since both signatories of the contact are responsible for pushing forward the project with joint efforts.

XpressWest's irresponsible decision has stymied the realization of a high-speed rail line linking Los Angeles to Las Vegas at an early date which could shorten the travel time substantially and boost the economy of the West Coast and Nevada's desert region.

The United States, the fourth-largest country in the world with the third-largest population, lags far behind China, Japan and Europe in high-speed rail development, which can bring about efficiency and prosperity and be more environmentally friendly.

XpressWest's passive way of dealing with problems that occurred during the implementation of the project dealt a sudden blow to U.S.-China cooperation in the field of high-speed rail construction.

U.S. President Barack Obama has put forward a so-called 21st Century Clean Transportation Plan which mentioned new technologies such as autonomous vehicles and high-speed rail.

That would include making high-speed rail a viable alternative to flying in major regional corridors and investing in new rail technologies like maglev, the White House said early this year.

China, which has built 17,000 km of railway in 12 years since it began constructing bullet trains, can be a helping hand in making the U.S. high-speed rail dream become true. Endi