Frozen China Uncovers Corrupt Infrastructure

This has been an exceptionally cold winter for China. Hundreds of millions were affected with loss of power, loss of heating, low food supplies, and disrupted transportation. One of the most shameful revelations coming out of China this winter is the widespread criminal corruption in infrastructure.

As reported by the Chinese media, an unspecified number of concrete power poles in South China's Guizhou province, which were jack-knifed by the snowstorms to interrupt electricity supply, have been found to have had no required reinforcing steel bars inside. Instead, small iron wires were used to replace the reinforcing steel bars. Vast areas in mountainous Guizhou province suffered the worst power blackouts amid the snowstorms due to the collapse of pylons and poles for overhead transmission.
Critics said flaws in the government system had led to incompetence in combating corruption, which in turn made the situation even worse.

A devastating natural disaster like the snowstorms is certainly beyond human control. However, analysts say, what a government can and must do is to prevent man-made factors from worsening the damage caused by the natural disaster. In the case of Guizhou, had qualified materials been used, power blackouts might not have been so serious or lasted so long.

The Beijing News, an outspoken and influential daily based in the Chinese capital, reported that in Guizhou's Kaili prefecture, a huge number of power poles turned out to be produced with substandard materials, as no reinforcing steel bars were found inside when they broke and collapsed in snowstorms.

...According to reports, most of the broken poles exposed small-diameter iron wire instead of strong reinforcing steel bars as required by production standards. In one estimate, in Kaili prefecture alone, over 10,000 poles were broken and still need to be replaced...As it is clear power shortages in many places were caused by the poor quality of electricity poles rather than by the snowstorms, the Chinese government is obligated to launch a thorough investigation. Producers and suppliers of the substandard poles, and those who approved the purchase and use of them, are in the firing line. As is often the case, official corruption is likely involved in such massive production and use of substandard products.

...Blogs and websites across the country are urging the the government to make a thorough investigation into the scandals - including the possible involvement of official corruption - and to punish those who used their power to protect groups with vested interests...Beijing is being called on to review and improve its mechanisms aimed at curbing the corruption that now runs rampant in almost every sector of society. ___AsiaTimes

Of course, these shoddy construction methods would have revealed themselves eventually. There really is no good time for bridges and buildings to collapse, or for power poles to snap. For this to happen in the midst of such a cold, cruel winter makes it all the worse.

This is the type of corruption upon which China's "miraculous growth" is based. It lies unseen, for the most part, for now. As long as foreign media and foreign investors choose to look the other way, the effect on China's financial rise will be minimal. But just as substandard powerlines tend to snap at the worst possible time, so does the collapse of public and investor confidence in a corrupt financial and political system tend to collapse at the worst time.