Landlocked at the crossroads of China, Southeast Asia and South Asia, Kunming first gained international attention as the terminus of an ambitious French rail project connecting French Indochina with Yunnan.

Back then it might not have been difficult to imagine a pan-Asian rail network centered upon the city, but the turbulence of the 20th Century fragmented the continent, impeding the flow of people and goods across borders.

In recent decades relations among Asian countries have experienced a general thawing and once again, rail transport is bringing Kunming's crossroads status into international focus. But this time around it is high-speed rail rather than the locomotive that will drive Kunming's resurgence as a transport hub.

Within a decade, Kunming will be at the center of a high-speed rail network that extends westward across India and Pakistan to Iran, southward to Singapore on the South China Sea, eastward to Xiamen and Shanghai on the Chinese coast and northward to Chengdu – if Beijing has its way.

After India's decision last year to pull out of the plan to rebuild the Stilwell Road connecting northeast India with Kunming, it may be surprising to learn that Beijing and New Delhi are discussing a Chinese-built high-speed rail line crossing. The Hindu reports:


It appears that the long-planned rail network connecting Kunming with Singapore via cities in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia will also be a high-speed rail network, according to Chinese media.

Since beginning to develop its domestic high-speed rail network, China has begun to market its growing prowess in the industry to other countries. State-owned Chinese companies are already involved in projects in Venezuela and Turkey and Chinese companies plan on bidding for upcoming high-speed rail project tenders in the United States.

China recently announced its intention to build a high-speed rail link between Beijing and London. Chinese officials are predicting the completion of a China-built Eurasian high-speed rail network by as early as 2025.

On the domestic front, a new dedicated high-speed passenger line from Kunming to Shanghai is under construction and expected to be completed by 2015. The new route, which will run through provincial capitals Guiyang, Changsha, Nanchang and Hangzhou, will cut travel time from about 37 hours to around 10 hours.

Plans also exist to upgrade existing tracks between Kunming and Chengdu and build a new direct line to Chongqing that will deliver passengers from Kunming in about three hours instead of the current 19-plus hours.

Finally, construction commenced on a high-speed line from Kunming to Nanning last December. There has been some recent speculation that this line will eventually extend to Xiamen, and even Taiwan via tunnel.

China plans on having 42 high-speed rail lines by 2012, covering 13,000 kilometers, which would make it the world's largest rail network of its kind. The new lines will use China's homegrown high-speed rail system, which is a mix of foreign locomotive and carriage technology and domestically designed switching and control systems that is capable of speeds up to 350 km/hour (217 mph).

Last Friday while much of the world was nursing the hangover of a decade of war and terrorism, economic turmoil and environmental degradation, China and its Southeast Asian neighbors took a big step toward regional integration with the launch of a new free trade area (FTA). The long term implications for Yunnan are massive.

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have now entered the first phase of an FTA, eliminating tariffs on around 7,000 items including fruits, vegetables, textiles and machinery. These goods represent roughly 90 percent of trade in the new economic bloc, which is the world's largest in terms of population and third-largest after the EU and NAFTA in terms of GDP.

The first phase includes China and the more developed ASEAN members: Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. On Friday these countries also launched the first phase of an FTA within ASEAN itself. The remaining members – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam – will join the ASEAN China FTA in 2015.

Although it does not directly border any of the first phase countries, Yunnan has much to gain from the FTA's launch. It has water, air and highway connections to Thailand plus air links to Malaysia and Singapore, all of which are expected to become even busier trade routes. The launch of the FTA has long been viewed as a major milepost in the rise of Yunnan as China's gateway to Southeast Asia.

As some observers note, the FTA is more than just a step toward trade integration, it is also a major strategic achievement for China, whose political power in Southeast Asia already greatly surpasses that of regional rival India and is also seriously challenging American influence in the region.

China's soft power in Southeast Asia will undoubtedly grow in step with trade within the FTA, and much of this influence will be projected from Yunnan.

In the coming decade, China and Southeast Asia will become increasingly connected by a vast network of highways and rail which will provide cities in Yunnan with cheap overland access to markets in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Seated at the northern end of this transport web, Yunnan is poised to become an increasingly important international trade hub.

The initiation of the ASEAN China FTA is a modern revival of the ancient tea and horse caravan routes from centuries ago known as the South Silk Road, which linked China with Southeast Asian markets as well as Tibet and India.

Total trade between China and Southeast Asia was US$100 billion in 2004 and US$231 billion in 2008, but this is just the beginning. Bilateral trade – much of which will be passing through Yunnan – is expected to double over the next decade.

Difficult as it may be to imagine, Yunnan's days as an economic and political backwater are officially over.

Engineers from China and Australia are preparing to commence work on the last remaining stretch of track of the east trunk line of the Trans-Asian Railway, which will link Kunming and Singapore via Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, according to a Voice of America report.

The missing link in this rail line is Cambodia, which needs to upgrade hundreds of kilometers of colonial-era lines plus build a new east line to Vietnam in order to connect stations in China and Vietnam with Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

If Asian Development Bank (ADB) projections hold true, this section of the Trans-Asian Railway could be sending travelers and freight between Kunming and Singapore within two years, the report said.

The Cambodian government has split the job in two, with the contract for the west line - consisting of old lines originally built by the French - going to Australia's Toll Holdings. This line will connect Phnom Penh with Thailand and will also dip southward to the port city of Sihanoukville, one of the largest ports in the Gulf of Thailand.

China Railway Group holds the contract for carrying out a feasibility study to link Phnom Penh with Vietnam to the east through a 255-kilometer rail line passing through the Cambodian border town of Snoul, the report said. It was only last year that Cambodia and Vietnam signed an agreement that will allow their respective rail networks to connect.

Analysts believe that completion of the Cambodia section will provide a major boost to Cambodia's economy and its role within the region. In addition to multitudes of tourists, trains traveling the Trans-Asian Railway are expected to transport large amounts of bulk freight such as rice.

As with most large infrastructure projects in Asia, resettlement of people living along the proposed route is a variable that will determine when the project is completed. An ADB official said he expects the resettlement issue to be resolved without major difficulty, in which case travelers may be taking trains between Kunming and Singapore within two years.

Thailand topped the list of foreign travelers to Yunnan last year, with 185,390 Thais visiting the province in 2008, according to Kunming media reports citing Yunnan Tourism Bureau statistics.

Thai arrivals to Yunnan – which were up 94.6 percent on 2007 – are expected to continue to increase in 2009. Last year a 1,900 kilometer expressway linking Kunming and Bangkok through Laos opened, paving the way for buses and private cars from Thailand to drive into Yunnan.

Japan was the second-largest source of international visitors to Yunnan for the second consecutive year with 138,988 arrivals, down 5.7 percent from 2007. South Korea was the third-largest source of international travelers, followed by Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, France, Germany, The United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Travelers from the US totaled more than 100,000 for the first time, but perhaps the most notable statistic was the 659 percent increase in Indian arrivals to Yunnan, which totaled just over 25,000. Direct flights between Kunming and Kolkata in eastern India launched in late 2007.

Thai leisure and business travelers may be flocking to Yunnan, but Yunnan's presence in Thailand is also growing, with an estimated 100,000 Yunnanese living in Thailand.

The Thai-Yunnan Chamber of Commerce was recently established in Bangkok, highlighting the increased trade and business ties between Yunnan and Thailand, which are separated by less than 300 kilometers.

Cambodia and Vietnam signed an agreement on Saturday that will link the two countries' railways, an important step in the creation of a Southeast Asian rail network that will connect major cities and tourist destinations between Kunming and Singapore.

China will help Cambodia with completion of the rail link with Vietnam, according to an AFP report quoting Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong. The Cambodian segment of the 5,382 kilometer (3,344 mile) rail network is expected to cost more than US$500 million - Cambodia's domestic rail network is still in disrepair after a civil war that ended in the 1990s.

Improvement of Cambodia's rail connectivity with its Southeast Asian neighbors is expected to boost the country's small but fast-growing economy. Hor Namhong said that Cambodia-Vietnam cross-border trade in the first eight months of this year totaled US$1.7 billion.

The opening of rail traffic between Cambodia and Vietnam will add to existing Southeast Asian cross-border rail connections between Singapore and Malaysia and Malaysia and Thailand. Cambodia has a rail connection to its western neighbor Thailand – with which it has recently been engaged in a violent border dispute – but it has fallen into disuse.

Malaysia has called for a clear timetable for the completion of the rail network that will link Kunming with Singapore, a project that has been ongoing since 1994.

Yesterday Malaysian Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat told the rail network's 10th Special Working Group Meeting in Putrajaya, according to Malaysian media reports.

The 5,382 kilometer (3,344 mile) rail network will connect Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam with Kunming and other cities in Yunnan. The main obstacle to getting the network up and running is the existence of around 550 kilometers of gaps between rail lines around the region. According to Ong:


Ong said that despite concerns about rising costs of construction materials, Malaysia was not going to pressure poorer countries in the region – ie Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar – to meet the generally hoped-for completion target of 2015, although Malaysia's last gaps will be filled before then.


Once completed, the rail network is expected to greatly boost regional trade and tourism as well as contributing to poverty reduction in poorer areas throughout the region. It will also bolster Kunming's position as the primary Chinese logistics hub for trade with Southeast Asian countries.

The 2008 Olympics have already focused global attention on Beijing, but other cities will also host selected competitions. Regatta events will take place in Qingdao and soccer/football matches will be held in Shenyang, Qinhuangdao, Tianjin and Shanghai. Even Hong Kong – technically an 'international' flight from mainland China – will host the Olympic equestrian competition this year.

The decision to hold equestrian events in Hong Kong is tacit acknowledgment that the equestrian facilities and traditions in the former British colony are superior to anywhere on the mainland. Despite the existing world-class facilities, organizers of the equestrian events in Hong Kong are addressing even seemingly minute details. A prime example of this attention to detail is the hiring of Kunming-based arboricultural consultancy Asia Tree Preservation (ATP) to ensure that tree shade at the Hong Kong Golf Club complements equestrian events rather than interferes with the events and their broadcast.

ATP was established in Kunming last year by the father-son team of Don and Jon Picker plus longtime friend Jeff Legue, all certified arborists and Kunming residents. Don Picker has 25 years of experience as an arborist, a profession he says the average person has some difficulty understanding.

"Usually I'll tell people we're 'tree doctors'," said Picker, adding that despite the lack of general knowledge of arboriculture in Asia, the profession is quickly taking a foothold in this part of the world due to the training work done in Singapore by Dr Bill Fountain of the University of Kentucky.

"In Singapore, there's been about two or three hundred arborists certified in the last six years," Picker said. "Malaysia and Hong Kong have become increasingly interested in arboriculture in recent years too."

What is arboriculture? In a nutshell, it is the selection, management and removal of shrubs and trees with the aim of reducing hazards and promoting harmony with an area's needs. Arboriculture has been recognized as a profession for about 40 years.

Beginning this week, ATP will be helping the 122 year-old Hong Kong Golf Club with the management of its banyan trees and eucalypts, some of which are as high as 30 meters and require climbing and pruning by trained professionals. ATP was initially hired to help the golf club prepare for the upcoming Hong Kong Open golf tournament, after which they were asked to assist with the maintenance of the grounds for the Olympic events this summer.

Despite acceptance in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, arboriculture has yet to catch on in mainland China, said Don Picker, who is Chairman of the International Safety Committee of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). Picker is also an ISA-certified arborist. Last year he helped with the translation of the organization's Tree Climber's Guide into traditional Chinese – he said he hopes to help with a simplified Chinese version for the mainland soon.

According to both father and son, Kunming could use the advice of a professional arborist, particularly with regard to the practices of 'topping' trees (cutting off the tree tops to encourage horizontal growth) and painting the lower portions of trees white.

"We'd like to see the elimination of 'topping' in Kunming," Jon Picker said. "Topping exposes the trunk of the tree to rain, which leads to core rot, and the branches that grow after topping are susceptible to breaking in the future, which creates a hazard."

Strolling virtually anywhere in Kunming one is able to see trees that have been topped. Most trees have also had their lower portions painted white, a practice that the Pickers cite as a major peeve in tree maintenance in Kunming.

"Historically, a lime base paint was used to repel insects and there has also been an illumination element to the white paint on trees," Don Picker explained, "But now it seems that the practice exists primarily because people think it looks beautiful."

After finishing their work in Hong Kong, ATP hopes to focus on cooperation with local universities in Kunming. However, as Don Picker acknowledges, few people appreciate the work of arborists as the aim of their work is generally subtle and unobtrusive.

"The challenge in our industry is that the average person doesn't really look at trees until something grabs their attention, which usually happens after some kind of environmental damage occurs or a tree has been pruned," the elder Picker said. "Arboriculture is both a science and an art - we prune in a way that doesn't alter the tree's appearance."

Related Links:

International Society of Arboriculture

Treesaregood.org

The 2007 China-ASEAN Television Cooperation Summit (2007 中国-东盟电视合作峰会) held its closing ceremony yesterday at the Expo Garden Hotel. The main theme of the summit was increasing television cooperation among Asian countries and creating an Eastern counterweight to Western media.

The two-day summit began on Wednesday with speeches by government officials and television industry leaders, including Zhang Changming, Vice President of China Central Television (CCTV). Zhang's speech, "Sending the voices of the East to the world", focused on the need for Eastern media to catch up with Western media in terms of impact and influence.

"One thing that cannot be denied is the imbalance between the East and West in global information flow," Zhang said before approximately 200 television professionals and government officials from China and the member states from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Zhang proposed more sharing between China and Southeast Asian countries in the fields of news reporting, documentary filmmaking and television programming and production.

"We can work together to grow and become stronger," he said, "and by way of the shared platform created by Asian media, we can let the voices from the East be heard on a global stage."

Other speakers included Mr Pratap Parameswaran of the ASEAN Secretariat, as well as television officials from Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. Several representatives of mainland television stations and production companies also delivered keynote addresses.

Shialey Tan of Singapore-based MediaCorp's high-definition documentary production company Caldecott Productions reiterated Zhang's message of Asians producing programs about Asia for non-Asian audiences. Tan was at the summit to promote "The Asian Pitch", a contest for independent Asian filmmakers organized by Caldecott, Japanese broadcaster NHK and South Korean broadcaster KBS.

"The face that Asia presents to the world should be one made by Asian media, not Western media," Tan said.

This year's China-ASEAN Television Cooperation Summit is the first meeting of its kind between China and ASEAN. The summit is scheduled to be held again in 2009.