150 Years on, China’s Rail Role Would Use U.S. Labor

Nearly 150 years ago America built the first transcontinental railroad, and 10,000 Chinese laborers used pickaxes to cut tunnels and rail-lines for just $30 per month. Now, President Obama is promoting high-speed rail, and the Chinese are again involved.   This time, though, they don’t just want to swing an axe.   They want to design and part-fund it and have Americans provide the labor. Alastair Leithead, a reporter with the BBC, has been looking at the story for their series “Power of Asia.” We also hear from Brian Leung, an associate professor of creative writing at University of Louisville, the author of “Take Me Home” a book about Chinese Americans in the nineteenth century.