Violence will not change railway route design

On May 7, the authorities of Guang'an city, Sichuan province, announced a plan to build a local intercity railway, which will pass the central zone of the city instead of Linshui, a subsidiary county. Some residents of Linshui assembled last week to protest against the plan and the protests escalated into violence. Comments:

A railway line means more economic development opportunities. The Linshui residents have the right to express their pursuit of that. However, they have chosen a bad way to express their desire for the railway, and violent protests will never help them get it. On the contrary, the violence will give the whole nation a negative impression of the county and frighten decision-makers into choosing another route.

scol.com.cn, May 17

There used to be examples of officials and residents from different cities competing for better infrastructure, with those that performed better at speculation winning. It is this absurd logic of rewarding rule-breakers that encourages officials and residents to make trouble in order to attract favorable policies. Provincial and higher governments must stop their practice of rewarding rule-breakers.

Shaanxi Daily, May 18

When the interests of two cities contradict each other, the proper solution lies in founding a commission that includes residents' representatives and experts, to make the final decision; but local governments continue their old mode of making decisions inside a black box. As a result, even if they make the right decision the people won't trust them. Local governments must learn to make decisions in a trustable way in an age in which people can conveniently express their opinions.

huanqiu.com, May 18