Dissident panda snubs Chinese bullet trains, arrested

Pin Yang, the famous Chinese dissident panda has raised a banner of revolt once again – this time against the supreme icon of Chinese technology prowess, the bullet train.

The background
China's multibillion-dollar rail ambitions took a massive hit last month when two high-speed trains collided near the southeastern city of Wenzhou resulting in the death of 40 people. The sector has since had to face increased safety and financial scrutiny and the government has decided to slow some of the trains as an immediate measure to restore public confidence. Sources however say that China's enthusiasm for these trains has not waned much since the incident. China is said to be working on a project to have bullet trains running across its border with other Asian countries so as to enable its troops to intrude and pull back at higher speeds.

Pin Yang during the
ride

Today morning when commuters boarded their daily bus to Shanghai from Guanzhong, they were in for a pleasant surprise. They were greeted by none other than a cheerful Pin Yang who symbolically refused to sit inspite of seats being free around him. When asked, Pin calmly told fellow commuters that he had lost faith in bullet trains and was traveling in the bus to show his support for the relatively safer form of mass transit.

“China should invest more in mass transit as a mode of transport and not as a means of show off. They should realize that 1000s of Chinese rely on this eco-friendly mode of transit to not just travel, but also to reduce their carbon footprint and their impact on the environment,” Ping said before being arrested and taken away by authorities.  He was sentenced to 24 months of slave labour at a cobalt mine in Xiaxing province.

The international community has expressed concern over the well being of Pin and asked China to release him at the earliest. However, China seems to be in no mood to comply. In a message left on a hacked EU server, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that Pin will not be released any time soon and will have to serve out his sentence.

Indian external affairs minister S M Krishna was not available for comment as his wig was missing and he didn't turn up in his office today. A spokesperson for the ministry said that SMK would read out a statement on the issue to the press as soon as his Portuguese counterpart finalizes his draft.