Long-awaited Wenzhou Bullet Train Crash Report Leaves Netizens Outraged (NTDTV ) 30th December 2011

It's been more than five months since a high-speed train crash near Wenzhou left dozens dead and hundreds injured. On Wednesday, the Chinese regime finally publicly released a report on the cause of the crash. It blamed the crash on a combination of equipment failure and mismanagement. Chinese internet users flocked to microblogs like Sina Weibo with reactions to the report.

On Wednesday, the Chinese State Council issued a report on the fatal bullet train crash that happened on July 23rd in Zhejiang Province, near Wenzhou.

The bullet train lost power after being struck by lightning and came to a halt over a viaduct. Shortly after, it was rear-ended by another train, derailing seven carriages. At least 40 people died in the crash.

The long-awaited report criticizes the Railways Ministry for its sloppy management and poor handling of the rescue efforts. A total of 54 officials were blamed, including the former railway minister, Liu Zhijun, who was dismissed over corruption charges earlier this year.

The report sparked a nationwide uproar among Chinese netizens. One Sina Weibo post says, "So many people died in the accident, five months of 'difficult birth' to this 36-thousand word report only gives us dismissal, demotion, and punishment. How can the government convince the public using this!!!'"

Another Weibo user wrote, "Wenzhou train crash report...is the government trying to amuse us? Spent almost of half a year to investigate a reason we have already known. The outcome is only disciplinary action within the [Chinese Communist] Party. And then they simply find a scapegoat who has long been dismissed from his post."

The Chinese regime has been expanding its railway system rapidly over the past decade. Its railway industry has had a difficult year with the Wenzhou crash.

New projects of constructing high-speed trains were almost stopped. But the Chinese regime continues pushing ahead with its high-speed rail ambitions despite safety issues, construction fraud and lack of passengers.

The state-owned train maker, CSR Corporation, unveiled a prototype train on Tuesday. It's reported to reach a maximum speed of 310 miles per hour. So far, there is no indication of when the new model would be put into commercial use.