Those statistics are misleading. China’s population is very unevenly distributed between the east and west, but Western China is still serviced by high-speed railway.

The 1786km Lanzhou–Urumqi HSR serves three Western Chinese provinces: Gansu (57.7 people per sq km), Qinghai (8.2) and Xinjiang (15.8).

The ultimate cause is an economic system which is failing to meet the needs of the majority (combined with media run by, and for the minority who the economic system does serve.)

The media’s real purpose at this point is to distract the majority from the real issues, and deflect any movement towards a real solution.