When Japan lost out to China on a $5bn deal to export high-speed rail to Indonesia this October, a nation despaired at the rejection of its beloved shinkansen, the great symbol of Japan’s technological might.
Yet this month it was the other way round as Japan rejoiced in a $15bn deal to build a high-speed line between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in India, while Chinese officials insisted they had not lost because there was no open tender.
The battle to sell high-speed rail has become a proxy for the broader competition between Japan and China for industrial supremacy and political influence in Asia. Yet officials say the cut-throat battle over high-speed rail reflects a different reality — few buyers actually want it.
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