收集一些關於香港高鐵報道的英文新聞：
HONG KONG — Legislators here approved US$8.6 billion ($66.9 billion Hong Kong dollars) in funding for a new high-speed railway to mainland China in a contentious vote that has stoked a rare wave of populist anger against the local government.
Hundreds of protesters surrounded the legislature after the vote Saturday night, scuffling with riot police and blocking traffic in much of the city’s main downtown district for several hours.
Protesters here say the railway is too costly and was approved without proper consultation, in part to benefit private interests.
Government officials say the railway, which will link Hong Kong to the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou by 2015, will more closely integrate Hong Kong with the mainland economy.
The vote was approved by a 31-21 vote after a two-day marathon session.
Saturday night’s vote removes the last remaining procedural obstacle to the railway. But the opposition sparked by the project underscores the challenges facing chief executive Donald Tsang’s administration, which is currently trying to push through politically sensitive electoral reforms that critics decry as falling short of public aspirations for greater democracy.
On Saturday night, protesters beat drums, cried “Long Live People Power” and lay down in mass groups on major streets to block government officials from leaving after the vote.
The railway vote was approved along largely partisan lines, with the opposition minority losing out to the pro-establishment lawmakers that dominate the legislature.
Eva Cheng, Hong Kong’s secretary for transport and housing, said the railway project “is in the best long-term interests of all of Hong Kong.”
Write to Jonathan Cheng at jonathan.cheng@wsj.com
By Wing-Gar Cheng and Wendy Leung
Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — Hong Kong lawmakers approved funding for a HK$66.9 billion ($8.6 billion) train line linking the city with China’s high-speed rail network.
Lawmakers voted 31 to 21 to ratify the project, which had been delayed twice amid objections about the cost and homes that will be destroyed in the rural New Territories, said Emily Lau, chairwoman of the finance committee.
The train line will plug Hong Kong into China’s network by 2015, cutting travel times and deepening Hong Kong’s links with the world’s fastest-growing major economy. The railway is one of the 10 infrastructure projects that Hong Kong’s government plans to help boost its economy.
“We support this project because the economic benefits it can bring are very important to Hong Kong,” lawmaker Paul Tse said in a legislative council meeting today. “Hong Kong needs to look into the future and consider the jobs that the project would create, the tourism opportunities with more people traveling between Hong Kong and China.”
Hong Kong’s government plans to construct an underground terminal in the city’s West Kowloon district, across Victoria Harbor from Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong-based MTR Corp. will construct the link at a cost of HK$2.57 billion per kilometer.
Demonstrators chanted slogans and waved banners outside the council building, demanding that the government review the project as it will cost too much and destroy village homes in the rural New Territories.
Protests, Clashes
Radio Television Hong Kong said as many as 10,000 demonstrators had gathered outside the building. Some protestors clashed with the police as they tried to break through metal barriers to get into the building, local television footage showed.
The police’s public relations branch wasn’t able to immediately comment on the protest, or give an estimate on the number of demonstrators.
The train will travel at speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour (217 miles an hour), cutting the travel time from Hong Kong to Beijing by two-thirds to eight hours, the government said in a paper presented to lawmakers.
The high-speed railway will save the Hong Kong public 40 million hours per year, generating an annual economic rate of return of 9 percent annually, according to the government’s paper to the Legislative Council.
Hong Kong’s government believes the project will generate a profit and it won’t need to rely on bank loans for funding, Eva Cheng, secretary for transport and housing, told lawmakers today.
Start Construction
“We’re looking to start construction as soon as possible and this is also the wish of the majority of the Hong Kong people,” Cheng said at a press briefing after the meeting. “We will monitor work on the project very closely.”
The railway is one of 10 infrastructure projects that Hong Kong’s government plans to help boost its economy. It also intends to construct a bridge linking Hong Kong with the gambling enclave of Macau and the city of Zhuhai across the border from Macau.
“The government still hasn’t yet given any details on how it will ensure the project will generate profit,” lawmaker Cyd Ho, who voted against the funding, said. “I hope that the government won’t return to the legislative council again to seek additional funding.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Wing-Gar Cheng in Hong Kong at wgcheng@bloomberg.net; Wendy Leung in Hong Kong at wleung12@bloomberg.net
HONG KONG — More than 1,000 protesters staged a sit-in outside Hong Kong’s Legislative Council late Saturday after lawmakers approved a controversial 8.6-billion-dollar high-speed railway project.
The group surrounded the council building and refused to let transport chief Eva Cheng and other government officials leave after lawmakers voted in favour of the project at the end of an eight-hour meeting.
“Withdraw the proposal. Eva Cheng, shame on you!” the protesters, mostly students and young professionals, chanted as hundreds of policemen looked on.
Cheng was in her car in the council’s carpark for about an hour before she was forced to return to the building, with protesters refusing to leave.
“Nobody can represent our voice. So we came here tonight to make our voice heard,” Henry Lam, 24, told AFP.
Police earlier used pepper spray on some of the protesters as they tried to break through a barricade.
The council meeting was the third held to discuss funding approval for the project, which will link Hong Kong and Guangzhou, capital of neighbouring Guangdong province.
The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Rail Link will form part of China’s national high-speed rail network and allow people to travel from Hong Kong to Guangzhou in 48 minutes, just under half the current duration of the journey.
Officials say the project is important for fostering economic ties between Hong Kong and major cities on the Chinese mainland and hope construction will be completed by around 2015.
“The project has been through a 10-year consultation… It is an important investment,” Cheng said after the meeting.
Pro-democracy legislators tried to delay the decision, saying the public had not been properly consulted and that the scheme was over-priced.
They also said it would benefit only developers while forcing villagers along the route to relocate.
Protesters said the project received the green light only because the election system allows the majority of the Legislative Council seats to be filled by pro-government politicians.
At present, only half of Hong Kong’s legislature is directly elected while a largely pro-Beijing committee effectively controls the selection of the remainder and appoints the city’s chief executive.
More than 1,000 protesters staged a sit-in outside the official residence of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Donald Tsang late Friday to urge the government to drop the project.
