“While humanoid robots captivated audiences during China's Spring Festival gala this week— a glittering, televised performance showcasing the nation's technological prowess — a more ancient form of engineering was reaching its climax in the country's deep south. There, far from the theatrical fanfare of robotic demonstrations, legions of workers... are completing what Chinese authorities call their first major canal in more than a millennium: the Pinglu waterway, a 134-kilometre channel that will soon connect landlocked Guangxi Province on the border with Vietnam directly to the Gulf of Tonkin and its international shipping lanes beyond. More than a feat of engineering, the canal represents China's insistence on cementing fresh trade routes independent of Western influence — and it's doing so by betting on thousand-year-old technology, refined with 2lst century ingenuity. The numbers behind its construction remain staggering, even in a country famed for its megaprojects. Over four years, workers have excavated more than 308 million cubic metres of earth and stone - nearly triple the volume removed for the Three Gorges Dam - and poured 5.8 million cubic metres of concrete, according to figures released by the state-owned enterprise building it. The $US10.4bn investment will shorten the shipping route from Nanning, Guangxi's bustling capital, by 560 kilometres and slash transport costs by hundreds of millions of dollars annually.” •••••••••••••••••••• Australia has built less than a handful of dams and baseload power stations this century, yet China churns out Infrastructure projects like this for as little as $10.4 billion dollars. People First is the only party that has the vision to make projects like this happen by starting an Infrastructure Bank and bringing back the military apprenticeship scheme. Australia’s lack of ingenuity and motivation to build a better life for our children is alarming. has the solutions to turn this around.show more

Gerard Rennick

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