http://www.economist.com/node/16541661?story_id=16541661&fsrc=rss
What did you do in the war?
Bidders for Californian high-speed rail may have their past raked over
Jul 8th 2010 | PARIS
Not all passengers travelled willingly
LAWMAKERS in California voted unanimously on June 29th to approve a proposed law which would force any company bidding for contracts to build the state"s new $43 billion high-speed rail system to disclose whether they transported Jews, American soldiers or others to concentration camps during the Holocaust. Its author, Bob Blumenfield, a Democrat, specifically highlighted the wartime record of SNCF, which nowadays operates France"s TGV high-speed trains. The French firm expects that the bill will clear all further legislative hurdles, including the sign-off by the normally veto-prone governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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"SNCF fully supports the disclosure of the details of its wartime operations," says Peter Kelly, the company"s lawyer in Los Angeles. Its competitors for a share of California’s high-speed billions are likely to include rail firms from Germany and its wartime friends, Spain, Italy and Japan, which will also have to disclose their past conduct. According to people close to the state’s rail project, Japanese railway executives are especially worried that the law will damage their prospects. Although firms’ records cannot be used to bar them from bidding for contracts or winning them, they fear that the disclosures could create a stigma and prompt public lobbying against them.
전범국가 일본의 어두운 과거가 부메랑이 되어 되돌아 오는군요.
한국처럼 착하게 살아야 행운이 옵니다.
