China helps launch $13 billion Belt and Road rail project in Malaysia
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak and Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai (2nd R) look at a model of the East Coast Rail Line at Kuantan Bahang, Malaysia August 9, 2017.
KUANTAN, Malaysia (Reuters) – China and Malaysia broke ground on Wednesday on a $13 billion rail project linking peninsular Malaysia’s east and west, the largest such project in the country and a major part of Beijing’s Belt and Road infrastructure push.
The planned 688-km (430-mile) East Coast Rail Link will connect the South China Sea, large parts of which are claimed by China, at the Thai border in the east with the strategic shipping routes of the Straits of Malacca in the west.
It is among the most prominent projects in China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to build a modern-day “Silk Road” connecting the world’s second-largest economy by land corridors to Southeast Asia, Pakistan and Central Asia and maritime routes opening up trade with the Middle East and Europe.
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/nd/2017-08-10/doc-ifyixiar8975288.shtml
不过，隔海峡与马来西亚为邻，同为该地区国家的新加坡，却对中马合作表现出高度紧张，时而发出不同的声音挑拨中马关系，希望该项目流产。
面对严峻的形势和挑战，新加坡必须改变陈旧观念，放下航运界龙头老大的架子，重新规划和设计发展蓝图。对新加坡而言，积极参与“一带一路”的朋友圈，寻找合适商机，甩开膀子大干一场才是当前正确的选择。毕竟，地球离了谁都一样转，但新加坡离开中国，可能日子会过得比较吃力。