BEIJING, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- China's sudden firing of its railway minister may raise doubts about many issues relating to the widely-acclaimed system he helped build, experts said.
The Communist Party's anti-corruption discipline watchdog last week removed Liu Zhijun from the job he'd held for seven years, during which he turned a basic network into a massive transportation system to include high-tech, high-sped trains, earning praise around the world for China.
However, the party's action has drawn attention to corruption plaguing many of the country's major public-works projects and could bring up questions regarding safety and future soundness about the rail system, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The Times said Liu's achievements included building about 8,100 miles of high-speed rail lines and 11,000 miles of railroad lines at a cost estimated at $750 billion. The reasons for Liu's removal were not clear but his successor said his ministry would "place quality and safety at the center of construction projects" and that safety would be his highest priority.
There had been concerns Liu may have cut corners to meet project deadlines and within budget.
No high-speed rail accidents have been reported but the Times quoted a person with ties to the ministry as saying concrete bases for tracks were cheaply made and cautioned the trains would be unable to maintain their current speeds of about 217 mph for more than a few years.
In Japan, noted for its bullet trains, one bullet train company official was quoted as telling The Financial Times the Chinese were using trains based on Japanese designs, but running them at speeds 25 percent faster, "something we would absolutely never do."
