China opens a railway to Laos 中老铁路开通运营
A high-speed railway connecting Yunnan, China’s most south-western province, with Vientiane, Laos’s capital, opens on Friday.
周五，贯通中国西南边陲云南至老挝首都万象的高速铁路开通运营。
It is an astonishing work of engineering, cutting through porous sandstone mountains, with dozens of tunnels and bridges.
这是一项工程杰作，中老铁路穿过了承载数十个隧道和桥梁的多孔砂岩山脉。
It took China six years to build.
中国花了6年时间建成中老铁路。
Laos has almost no other railways, and the connection is bound to transform Vientiane, a sleepy city of fewer than 1m people.
老挝几乎没有其他的铁路，中老铁路必将改变万象这座不足100万人口的沉睡之城。
But the economic returns Laos can expect remain unclear.
但老挝能预期的经济回报还是未知数。
The debt it incurred means greater dependence on China.
随之产生的债务意味着它会更依赖中国。
A one-way ticket through the country is too expensive for most Laotians.
对大多数老挝人来说，去往中国的单程票过于昂贵。
To increase the benefits of the scheme, neighbouring Thailand would need to get on board.
要增加泛亚铁路计划的利益，还需要邻国泰国的加入。
That would make a line from China to Singapore possible.
这将使得中国至新加坡的线路成为可能。
But the Thai government, perhaps fearing financial dependency, turned down China’s offer to build the branch.
但泰国政府可能担心经济依赖，拒绝了中国拓建支线的提议。
It seems in no hurry to lay the tracks itself.
泰国似乎并不急着自己铺设铁轨。
四通八达必定会促进经济发展，中老铁路的建成对双方而言是共赢的。
Vientiane 老挝首都万象
porous sandstone mountain 多孔砂岩山脉
be bound to 必将
turn down 拒绝
lay the tracks 铺设铁轨
12月10日星期五，天气小雨。
明日预告：
Germany’s new chancellor calls on Macron, and NATO
首发（公众号：肖坤稼）
