The new era of cross-border project dispute

In one of the most ambitious plans in railway history, China and Thailand jointly proposed last year the construction of a high-speed railway between Bangkok and Kunming, capital of southwestern China’s Yunnan province.

The 873-kilometer railway project is the first and foremost step of developing a pan-Asia railway network connecting China and South East Asia. Upon completion, travel time between Bangkok and Kunming will be shortened by more than 75% to about six hours from 26 hours by bus.

Too good to be true Perhaps. The project hit a snag in May last year after the two governments ran into disagreements over the total cost, the construction...