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The Chinese government, notwithstanding our reservations about communism, seems prepared to bite the bullet and invest in futuristic technology and make it a reality.
For example, China's second biggest city, Shanghai (it has the population the size of Australia in its boundaries), has a fully operational magnetic-levitation train that rockets along its high-rise tracks linking the airport and city. Every 20 minutes. It rides on a cushion of air, with fast switching of powerful electromagnets able to propel the train up to 430km/h.
It's the same sort of technology demonstration that Chinese car makers are doing.
While our car makers struggle to find buyers for the gas guzzlers they make, the Chinese are swinging their considerable might behind the development of the next wave of personal mobility, electric cars.
The Shanghai motor show exemplified all that's being done.
True, you didn't have to look far to find knock-offs of Western cars. But real innovation was there in spades, too.
The Intelligent Geely (IG) concept car looks made-to-measure for crowded cities the world over.
A pure plug in, it features solar cells on the bonnet and dash top to trickle-charge batteries and cool the cabin. The body shell is insulated like a fridge cabinet to minimise running the air conditioner. An innovative seating arrangement sees a central driving position with two full-sized seats in the back row either side, with a baby seat in the void behind the driver, The
driver's seat slides sideways to help people get in and out of the back row, aided by huge gullwing doors.
It's designed to offer a choice of electric drivetrains from short to medium range and a frugal petrol engine can be optioned if pure electric power is impractical. And the target price? Try $2000, before adding drivetrain options.
All car makers say the limitation of electric cars presently is battery technology. It also happens that the world's second largest battery company is a Chinese firm, BYD. It also is a car maker.
Contrast this to Australia. A decade ago, a very fast train (VFT) was on the drawing board to link Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney as an alternative to air travel.
One of the consortia vying for the project was promoting a mag-lev train.
In the late 1990s, the Howard government did no more than than cut a VFT cake for the cameras, and quietly let the project wither.
Irrespective of political persuasion, nothing has changed.
The present Rudd government seems happier to buy its population plasma TVs or feed its pokies addiction with our taxes its collects, rather than invest in transportation the country needs.
And if there was any greater example needed of this country's lackadaisical attitude to technology, one needed look no further than Sydney's airport.
After flying from Hong Kong to Sydney, the plane landed. All the passengers stood up, collected their cabin baggage and headed for the exit.
Only no-one was going anywhere. Alas, the aero-bridge wasn't working.