Behind railways of hope: Environmental politics in China’s connectivity infrastructure between the local and the international

Keywords: infrastructure, railway, China, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), environment
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 08:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 09:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 27

Abstract

China’s large-scale connectivity infrastructure plan, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has drawn much scholarly attention. The China-Laos railway is a representative BRI transnational transport project, of which the Laos section has been widely examined but the China section (Yuxi-Mohan railway) in Yunnan province has received little scrutinization, particularly from an environmental perspective. Exploring such topics is important for understanding the impacts of infrastructure development on both the local and the international. To this end, this paper tries to unpack the conflicts, especially environmental ones, surrounding the Yuxi-Mohan railway and seek their explanations using materials collected from the field, including local planning texts and interviews with railway companies and local governments and communities. Taking a scalar framework, the paper argues that as a much-anticipated project, conflicts are hidden in the Yuxi-Mohan railway under its scalar hybridity combining local development vector, national image project, and international channel of connectivity and geopolitics. Key findings include: 1) the railway is constructed as a project of hope which will bring prosperity to Yunan province, China, and Laos; 2) local conflicts concerning environment and resources are concealed behind the grand narratives; 3) explanations for the conflicts can be sought from the controversies across scales, namely struggles among local implementations, national requirements, and international pressures. The research may contribute to the theoretical discussion on the environmental politics of infrastructure and practical implications for improving the sustainability of transnational infrastructure projects.