Chinese President Visits Pakistan To Finalize Billion-Dollar Trade Route Plan

China's President Xi Jinping is in Pakistan to oversee the signing of agreements for a plan that would build $46 billion in infrastructure and energy projects. China aims to create greater land and sea ties with Pakistan in order to strengthen its influence in European and Middle Eastern markets.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

China's President Xi Jinping arrived in Pakistan today for a two-day estate visit. The two neighbors are close allies, but this visit is being billed as a geopolitical game changer. It involves the promise of tens of billions of dollars in investment and a plan to link China to the Middle East via Pakistan. We're joined from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, by NPR's Philip Reeves. And, Phil, what was the scene as President Xi arrived in the capital? This is his first visit to Pakistan.

PHILIP REEVES, BYLINE: Yes. It was quite extraordinary. His plane was escorted in by eight Pakistani fighter jet. And all over Islamabad there are these giant, Chinese-style plastic decorations, you know, tulips and huge billboards, also, bearing slogans talking about the Pakistani friendship being higher than mountains, deeper than oceans and sweeter than honey. That's a phrase Pakistanis often use about their friendship with China. So this is a real love-in.

BLOCK: And the plan to turn Pakistan into essentially a big trade route for China, what does that involve exactly?

REEVES: Well, President Xi's today been signing a stack of agreements connected with this. Basically, the plan is to develop a network of rail and road links and pipelines running down from Western China to port of Gwadar on Pakistan's southern coast. Gwadar's operated by a Chinese company, but it belongs to the Pakistani government, and it's on the Arabian Sea, close to the mouth of the Persian Gulf. So this so-called sort of economic corridor across Pakistan would give China a far more direct route to the oil reserves and markets of the Middle East and beyond. And this involves lots of different projects and tens of billions of dollars of Chinese investment.

BLOCK: And is that seen as a realistic plan - something that actually could work?

REEVES: Well, it's been talked about for quite a while, but there is a big gap between rhetoric and reality. Pakistan is, of course, unstable. There are a number of militant groups out there intent on attacking the state. These include the Taliban, but also separatist insurgents in Baluchistan, the province where Gwadar Port's located. Chinese workers have been killed in Pakistan before. Security will undoubtedly be one of the big issues on President Xi's mind.

BLOCK: And is there some expectation that billions of dollars - tens of billions of dollars of Chinese investment in Pakistan could help with stability in that country and in the region?

REEVES: Well, it ought to help. President Xi has been talking, also, about cooperating with Pakistan in the fight against Islamic militancy. China has an interest in doing this. It's worried about the spillover of Islamist militancy into its far West, where there's a restive Muslim Uighur population. And there's evidence that Uighurs have hooked up with Islamist insurgents in Pakistan's tribal belt, and China is worried about that. But it's not just about Pakistan. It's often said there's no peace here in Pakistan unless there's peace in Afghanistan next door. And it's interesting that China's also recently been getting more involved in efforts to breathe life into peace negotiations there. That will be welcome in Washington and in the Pentagon, where there's been a feeling for a while that the Chinese just don't do enough to make the region more secure.

BLOCK: OK, Philip. Thanks so much.

REEVES: You're welcome.

BLOCK: That's NPR's Philip Reeves talking the state visit by China's President Xi Jinping to Pakistan.www.yuchaiie.com

Next-Gen Nissan Titan Destined for Detroit, We Detail Its Clever New Diesel Engine

Almost 12 years ago, Nissan showed up at Detroit’s hometown auto show with a direct challenge to the Big Three: its first full-size truck, the Titan. Even if that truck barely registers as competition today—though it does have a pretty bitchin’ name—Nissan hasn’t been deterred from repeating the stunt with the second-generation truck. The 2016 Titan will make its debut at the 2015 Detroit auto show, according to a Nissan spokesman.

We already know that an optional turbo-diesel engine will make more than 300 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque. Now Cummins, the engine manufacturer, is detailing the tech that will force-feed the 5.0-liter V-8, revealing that it will be the sole light-duty vehicle sold in America with sequential turbochargers under the hood. Cummins calls it a Holset M2 Two-Stage System with Rotary Turbine Control. If that means absolutely nothing to you—and it shouldn’t—read on to learn what’s in the name.

We’ll get the easy stuff out of the way first. Holset is an English engineering firm that was purchased by Cummins in 1973 and renamed Cummins Turbo Technologies in 2006. But because Holset—we’re guessing here—means something to the people that buy and drive big diesel rigs, every Cummins turbo is also a Holset. Remember the time Mazda tried to drop “Miata” so that its iconic roadster was simply MX-5, but everyone called it Miata anyways? We’re thinking it’s kind of like that.

The two-stage bit means there are two turbochargers plumbed in sequence, so that they both feed pressurized intake air to all eight cylinders. Don’t call it a twin-turbo setup, though, because as with all sequential arrangements, these turbochargers are significantly different in size. (Twin turbos are the same size, with each one feeding half the engine’s cylinders.) The smaller of the two turbos provides boost at low engines speeds, where the lighter compressor and turbine spin up to speed quicker to reduce lag. However, at higher revs and engine load, when the engine is pumping more air, the smaller turbine and compressor begin to reach their limits. Instead of increasing power, they become restrictions in both the intake and exhaust streams, choking the intake supply and increasing back pressure in the exhaust. This is when the larger turbocharger takes over, raising the overall boost pressure and peak power output.

Still with us? You should know that nothing we’ve described thus far is especially novel. Sequential turbo systems, while not exactly common, have been around for decades. In Europe, Audi’s A6 andA7 are available with a sequentially turbocharged diesel engine that is more powerful than our 240-hp TDI. In the U.S., sequentially boosted engines have previously been used in performance heroes like the Porsche 959 and the third-generation Mazda RX-7. But sequential turbo systems are costly and complex, and getting the controls right to blend the two turbochargers is particularly tricky. And that’s where a Cummins innovation at play here becomes noteworthy.

Now we’re talking about the Rotary Turbine Control, which is the marketers’ term for a single electrically controlled rotary valve that directs the exhaust flow to either of the two turbochargers or a wastegate depending on the engine load and rpm. At low engine speeds, the valve directs all of the exhaust gas through the smaller turbine. As airflow increases with engine speed and load, the valve rotates to favor the larger turbocharger, although some exhaust still spins the small, low-pressure turbo. To regulate the boost pressure, the rotary valve turns to open a path between the exhaust stream and the wastegate, venting waste gas around the turbines.