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CHINA
These lines were to be built upon a percentage basis as initiated by Pauling & Company in their Shasi-Shingyifu railway agreement. Negotiations, however, were inter- rupted for various reasons, but since then the survey of 1,600 miles of railway has been commenced.
During recent years the Japanese have shown an interest in the railway development of Manchuria and Mongolia, as well as Shantung, and during 1918 they concluded agreements with the Chinese Government for the construction of the following lines:-
From Taonanfu to Jehol.
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Changchun to Taonanfu.
Kirin to Kaiyuan via Hailung.
a point on the Taonanfu-Jehol Railway to a seaport.
Also from Tsinanfu, Shantung province, to Shunteh in Chihli.
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Kaomi, Shantung province, to Hsuchow in Kiangsu.
The Manchuria group of lines ignores the Chinchow-Aigun agreement held by Americans, which, however, is regarded now as a dead letter, owing to the Japanese opposition it encountered when it was first mooted.
Great diversity exists on Chinese Railways in the type of locomotives used, due to the fact that the funds for constructing the various railways were furnished by different foreign markets, and in many of the loan agreements it is stated by implication, at least, that, other things being equal, the country that makes the loan should enjoy preference in furnishing the material for construction. An effort was made by the Ministry of Communications through its foreign advisers to effect an all-round system of unification and a good start was made with accounts and statistics, but all reforms have been practically brought to a standstill by the recent civil wars, owing to the militarists taking over the lines and rolling stock for their immediate purposes.
The following list of railways, open and under construction, shows the progress which had been made in twenty years in improving communications in China:-
1. Chinese Eastern Railway (Tung Ching), 5-foot gauge. and thence east and west to the Russian frontier, 1,077 miles.
2. Tsitsihar Light Railway (Ang-ang-chi), metre gauge. with the Chinese Eastern Railway at Ang-ang-chi, 17 miles. Constructed by a British engineer.
Kuanchengtzu to Harbin Under Russian control. Connecting Tsitsihar Opened August, 1909.
3. South Manchuria Railway. Under Japanese control. Main line: Dairen (Dalny) to Kuanchengtzu (1 miles beyond Changchun), 439 miles; double line. Branches: (1) Choushuitzu to Port Arthur, 31 miles. (2) Tashihkiao to Yinkow (Newchwang), 17 miles, inclusive of the section from Niuchiatun to Yingkow, which was opened in November, 1909. (3) Yentai to Taikang, 10 miles. (4) Suchiatun to Fushun, 344 miles, to the coal mines. (5) Mukden to Antung, 2 feet 6 inches gauge, 187 miles.
3a. Kirin-Chanchun, 80 miles. Chinese Government Railway managed by Japanese in connection with South Manchuria Railway. Ssupingkai-Chengchiatun work com- menced by Chinese with capital furnished by Japan.
4. Peking-Mukden line. The earliest railway system in China; formerly known as Imperial Railways of North China. British engineers, Chinese and British capital. Main line: Peking to Mukden (Ching-Feng), 523 miles. The last section, Hsinmintun to Mukden, was purchased from the Japanese in 1907. Branches: (1) Peking to Tung- chow, 14 miles. (2) Peking to Lukowkiao, 4 miles, connecting with the Peking-Hankow Railway. (3) Kowpangtze to Yingkow (Newchwang), 57 miles. (4) Tientsin to Hsiku, 3 miles. A branch from Tangho to Chinwang tao, 6 miles, belongs to and is controlled by the Chinese Engineering and Mining Company (British).
5. Peking-Suiyuan Railway, 403 miles. Chinese capital and Chinese engineers. Opened to Kalgan in September, 1909. Opened to Suiyuan, September 23rd, 1921. Kalgan to Tatung, 191 miles. Opened March, 1915. Tatung to Fengchen, 37 miles, opened. Fengtai to Kalgan, 211 miles. Branch: Hsichimen to Mentoukow, 27 miles. An extension to Paotowchen, in Inner Mongolia, is now being laid down. The distance between Suiyuan and Paotowchen is about 100 miles.