POKAZHUKA.  It's a Russian word, but Chinese communists do it too.

Problems with China's new high-speed rail line between Beijing and Shanghai have added to suspicions that the government had rushed several big projects in order to have them open in time for the Communist Party's 90th anniversary celebration.

There are no Trotskyists or wreckers about, and those running dogs of imperialism are so last century.  But one can always blame the weather.

Though officials blamed thunderstorms and wind for the problems, the delays add to the suspicion that so-called face projects had been rushed in China to open in time for the party's anniversary on July 1.

The projects include the world's longest sea bridge, which opened June 30 in the northeastern city of Qingdao without lights and guardrails in some sections. A China Central Television reporter inspecting the 26-mile Jiaozhou Bay Bridge found nut caps loosely fastened into existing guardrails. Construction workers told the state broadcaster that they still needed two months to complete the span.

In another controversy, workers rushed to install temporary granite flooring in the newly built Nanjing South Railway Station to meet the anniversary deadline. Ten days later, they were seen tearing up the tiles in the state-of-the-art station, said to be the biggest in the world at nearly 5 million square feet.

The renovations will cost about $1.5 million, a fraction of the super-structure's total $1-billion price tag.

Cities and ministries often present gifts on important dates to bestow respect and legitimacy to leaders. The tradition dates to imperial times and has not been lost under communism. It is not unusual for China to unveil its latest weapons on Oct. 1, the country's National Day.

The new faster passenger trains appear to be particularly susceptible to bad weather.

A historical note: the Transcontinental Railroad was up and running in time for the Centennial of American Independence, but it took another forty years to get the right of way in shape for proper passenger trains, and another thirty years to develop the Challengers and the Streamliners.