Barack Obama has been watching the Olympics and marveling at how amazing China’s infrastructure is.
Here’s the text:
Everybody’s watching what’s going on in Beijing right now with the Olympics. Think about the amount of money that China has spent on infrastructure. Their ports, their train systems, their airports are vastly superior to us now, which means if you are a corporation deciding where to do business, you’re starting to think, “Beijing looks like a pretty good option.”
China’s infrastructure may indeed look impressive, but I wouldn’t say that “their airports are vastly superior to us now.” The new Beijing airport is very fancy, but according to Anming Zhang and Andrew Yuen of the University of British Columbia, “travel delays have become a serious problem at some of the major Chinese airports,” the military has a chokehold on air traffic control and routing, and air traffic control staffing is at “20-40 percent of the level needed to meet the minimum safety standards” (much worse than the FAA’s staffing shortages). To the extent that China’s aviation system has improved, it is as a result of liberalization and privatization. (See their chapter in Aviation Infrastructure Performance
But let’s assume for a moment that China does actually have a better transportation infrastructure than we do. How did they get it? By being a repressive, authoritarian regime. If the Party wants to build something, it does! It’s easy to displace ten thousand people to expand your airport, or two million to build the Olympic complex. Compare this to Chicago O’Hare, whose long-awaited expansion continues to be impeded by homeowners protecting their property in court. (Of course, given Obama’s connections to Mayor Richard Daley, perhaps he secretly admires Daley’s “easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission” approach to airport planning.)
There’s none of this messy environmental review process in Beijing. That’s one of the main reasons it takes so long to build a runway here. And China takes advantage of cheap labor in terrible working conditions. Here, governments are required by the Davis-Bacon Act to pay prevailing (read: union) wages for public works projects, which drives up costs further. Obama supports Davis-Bacon and cosponsored legislation in 2005 to repeal George W. Bush’s suspension of Davis-Bacon in Katrina-afflicted areas. Is Obama really admiring China for its exploitation of labor?
No, the Olympics are just another excuse for Obama to beat up on the Bush administration. Fair enough, it’s an election; but he owes it to us to get the facts straight. The United States has an infrastructure problem. We have especially failed to provide an aviation infrastructure that can grow to meet demand. Looking to China will not provide useful solutions.
H/T: Hot Air
Evan Sparks's Aviation Policy Blog 
But, noting that China has airports that provide serious competition to the U.S. is a necessary first step in getting back in the game.
Obama doesn’t endorse forcing people off their land any more than anyone really endorses U.S. airports that make deaf those people living under the landing patterns. Such things exist, however — now what are we going to do about it?
Ed
You have no clue.
Another uttering of un-researched, unfounded sound-bites for political gain by Mr. Obama … idiotic – as demonstrated.
Beijing airport is hardly representative of China airports, and the circus of the Olympics hardly represent daily life in COMMUNIST China.
Maybe Mr. Obama will suggest next that we abandon GPS navigation and instead favor some Chinese developed system (that would be?). Or maybe we should be flying those non-existent, highly efficient Chinese airliners.
Maybe Mr. Obama should try to travel to the heartland of China and experience how developed the infrastructure is first hand. Ooops, I forgot – no unrestricted travel … gotta bring a “minder” … and no photo op at the “Siegessaeule” – bummer.
Go back to Chicago and have a beer with your friends Daley, Resko, Ayers, Wright … Mr. Obama.
I’ll put my years in the airline industry against yours any day, Maddick. Run along now, this is no place for fooling.
Your ignorance about China is beyond me.
Mr. Hook —
Care to elaborate?
I’m sorry maddick and MD but, you don’t have a clue. This God fearing God loving country that we call the USA does business with those Godless Chineese communist everyday of the week but, you have nothing to say about that. Nothing to say about the lack of leadership accross the board in this country that has sold us out to anyone with an open check book which have left us in the current conditions which we find ourselves. Why is it that a Mid West US company (Cessna Aircraft) building a soon to be released model aircraft in China? Remember that the current situation in aviation was started by then President Ronald Reagan with the firing of air traffic controllers. As far as infrastructure; do you guys remember the I-35W bridge? I can’t even think about looking into my rear view mirror or in the windshild to see a bridge just fall apart. If you do not Mr. Obama just say so. My road in aviation and to a pilots licnese is currnet and long. I will make it and I hope that this country will. I still want America to be the greatest country that it can be and not this #@(*! that we are living in now.
[…] traditional start of US political campaigns and the associated silliness of political speeches. Evan Sparks’ Aviation Policy Blog pointed to a speech by Barack Obama in which he lauds Chinese investment in travel infrastructure […]
Chinese good airports have something to do with the government but not as you put it with an authoritarian state but a government that invests in the hardware to sustain economic growth on an economic basis. OK many airports are yet to make money but the highway system is, the railway is, power and utility companies do as well. Maybe you should read up a little on the Worldbank reports that explain how they got there. I live here and have seen the progress over the past 13 years. I also saw the decline in the US during that period. There is reason for concern and maybe reason to figure out what the Chinese do to make things work and just to help you out: it has little to do with the one party state (looking at the elections in the US a two party state seems to be an ineffecient one party state as the voters do not seem to be able to figure out whom to choose).