The International Development of ChinaSun, Yat-sen
History
The International Development of China
Sun, Yat-sen
China -- Economic conditions -- 1912-1949; Railroads -- China
scheme itself, i.e., the harbor and the city. Because of its commanding
position, the harbor has every possibility of becoming a city equal
to New York. It would probably be the only deep-water seaport for the
Yangtze Valley and beyond, an area peopled by two hundred million
inhabitants, twice the population of the whole United States. The rate
of growth of such a city would be in proportion to the rate of progress
of the working out of the development scheme. If war work methods, that
is, gigantic planning and efficient organization, were applied to the
construction of the harbor and city, then an Oriental New York City
would spring up in a very short time.
Shanghai as the Great Eastern Port
If only to provide a deep-water harbor for the future commerce in this
part of China is our object then there is no question about the choice
between Shanghai and our Projected Port. From every point of view
Shanghai is doomed. However, in our scheme of development of China,
Shanghai has certain claims for our consideration which may prove its
salvation as an important city. The curse of Shanghai as a world port
for future commerce is the silt of the Yangtze which fills up all its
approaches rapidly every year. This silt, according to the estimation
of Mr. Von Heidenstam, Engineer-in-chief of the Whangpoo Conservancy
Board, is a hundred million tons a year and is sufficient to cover an
area of forty square miles ten feet deep. So before Shanghai can be
considered ever likely to become a world port this silt problem must
first be solved. Fortunately, in our program, we have the regulation of
the Yangtze Channels and Embankments, which will coöperate in solving
the problem of Shanghai. Thus with this scheme in mind we might just as
well consider that the silt question of Shanghai has been solved and
let us go ahead, while leaving the regulation of the Yangtze Estuary to
the next part, to deal with the improvement of the Shanghai Harbor.
There are many plans proposed by experts for improving the Shanghai
Harbor as stated before, and some of them will necessitate the
scrapping of all the work which has been done by the Whangpoo
Conservancy Board for the last twelve years, at the cost of eleven
million taels. Here I wish to present a layman's plan for the
consideration of specialists and the public.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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