The contrast between the success of the new Terminal 3 at Beijing's airport and the failure of the new Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow could not be starker. But T3 is neither a success for socialism nor a success for China alone.
BEIJING – Ever since it opened recently, Terminal 5 of London’s Heathrow Airport has been plagued with failures. On the other side of the globe, Terminal 3 in Beijing, which opened for full operations just one day before Terminal 5, has been operating almost without a glitch. The media, unsurprisingly, have feasted upon the failures of T5 in London, while neglecting the successes of T3 in Beijing.
By all measures, Beijing’s T3 surpasses London’s T5. Whereas T5 can handle only 12,000 bags an hour (when it handles them at all) and 30 million passengers per year, T3 can handle 20,000 bags an hour and 50 million passengers. While T5 will mostly service British Airways, T3 will service Air China and two dozen other airlines.
At one million square meters, T3 in Beijing is the largest terminal in the world, but was much less costly to build than T5 in London. Using the most recent exchange rates, T3 cost only $3.86 billion compared with $8.6 billion for London’s T5. Furthermore, T3 took less than four years to complete, whereas T5 took almost 20 years.
But to call T3 a success for socialism and T5 a failure of capitalism would be to miss a fundamental point. After all, if China’s political system can still be called socialism, it is at best “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” which embodies an increasing amount of market-oriented economic activity and greater economic openness and transparency.
It would be similarly misleading to attribute T3’s success to China alone. After all, T3 was designed by a Briton, and has incorporated the most recent architectural and operational trends, styles, and standards in the world.
T3 in Beijing is just one of many projects China has recently built to improve its transportation infrastructure. In addition to having become the world’s industrial park, China now has more mobile phone subscribers than the combined populations of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the number of Internet users has just surpassed that in the US.
All of this development raises a fundamental question: how should we make sense of the explosive productivity growth that has become China’s new hallmark? Those who cling to old ideological stereotypes face an almost impossible task in reconciling China’s rapid growth with what they condemn as China’s failing system.
The truth is that ever since the end of the 1970’s, China has become convinced that peace and stability are the most important preconditions for its development. Thus, anything that may distract China from its focus on peace, stability, and development has been strongly resisted. This may help explain why T3 in Beijing is such a success, and why Chinese are now more united than ever before in condemning attempts to hijack or sully the Olympics for ulterior motives.
I hope that when millions of overseas passengers pass through T3, including those who do so during the Beijing Olympics, they will pause and reflect upon the distance China has traveled over the past three decades in its reform and opening to the outside world. Granted, China still has further to go, and many people may find fault with much in the country. But they should not refuse to acknowledge that China’s mission to turn a nation of 1.3 billion poor people into a developed country through peace and free trade is one of the great, honorable, and most difficult sagas in human history.
Following the disturbances in Tibet and the troubles affecting the Olympic torch’s progress around the world, some voices abroad are showing a greater inclination to dismiss, vilify, humiliate, or even split China. But it would be best for all to pause a moment, contemplate T3 in Beijing, consider what it represents, and reflect on what an accomplishment the quick completion of such an iconic structure is for an emerging country like China.
BEIJING – Ever since it opened recently, Terminal 5 of London’s Heathrow Airport has been plagued with failures. On the other side of the globe, Terminal 3 in Beijing, which opened for full operations just one day before Terminal 5, has been operating almost without a glitch. The media, unsurprisingly, have feasted upon the failures of T5 in London, while neglecting the successes of T3 in Beijing.
By all measures, Beijing’s T3 surpasses London’s T5. Whereas T5 can handle only 12,000 bags an hour (when it handles them at all) and 30 million passengers per year, T3 can handle 20,000 bags an hour and 50 million passengers. While T5 will mostly service British Airways, T3 will service Air China and two dozen other airlines.
At one million square meters, T3 in Beijing is the largest terminal in the world, but was much less costly to build than T5 in London. Using the most recent exchange rates, T3 cost only $3.86 billion compared with $8.6 billion for London’s T5. Furthermore, T3 took less than four years to complete, whereas T5 took almost 20 years.
But to call T3 a success for socialism and T5 a failure of capitalism would be to miss a fundamental point. After all, if China’s political system can still be called socialism, it is at best “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” which embodies an increasing amount of market-oriented economic activity and greater economic openness and transparency.
It would be similarly misleading to attribute T3’s success to China alone. After all, T3 was designed by a Briton, and has incorporated the most recent architectural and operational trends, styles, and standards in the world.
T3 in Beijing is just one of many projects China has recently built to improve its transportation infrastructure. In addition to having become the world’s industrial park, China now has more mobile phone subscribers than the combined populations of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the number of Internet users has just surpassed that in the US.
BLACK FRIDAY SALE: Subscribe for as little as $34.99
Subscribe now to gain access to insights and analyses from the world’s leading thinkers – starting at just $34.99 for your first year.
Subscribe Now
All of this development raises a fundamental question: how should we make sense of the explosive productivity growth that has become China’s new hallmark? Those who cling to old ideological stereotypes face an almost impossible task in reconciling China’s rapid growth with what they condemn as China’s failing system.
The truth is that ever since the end of the 1970’s, China has become convinced that peace and stability are the most important preconditions for its development. Thus, anything that may distract China from its focus on peace, stability, and development has been strongly resisted. This may help explain why T3 in Beijing is such a success, and why Chinese are now more united than ever before in condemning attempts to hijack or sully the Olympics for ulterior motives.
I hope that when millions of overseas passengers pass through T3, including those who do so during the Beijing Olympics, they will pause and reflect upon the distance China has traveled over the past three decades in its reform and opening to the outside world. Granted, China still has further to go, and many people may find fault with much in the country. But they should not refuse to acknowledge that China’s mission to turn a nation of 1.3 billion poor people into a developed country through peace and free trade is one of the great, honorable, and most difficult sagas in human history.
Following the disturbances in Tibet and the troubles affecting the Olympic torch’s progress around the world, some voices abroad are showing a greater inclination to dismiss, vilify, humiliate, or even split China. But it would be best for all to pause a moment, contemplate T3 in Beijing, consider what it represents, and reflect on what an accomplishment the quick completion of such an iconic structure is for an emerging country like China.