I provide some experience as a foreign worker working in a UK university while having many friend in the Chinese HSR system building:
In 2003, China started to plan its HSR system, the first leg of HSR proposed to built between Wuhan (8M ppl) and Guangzhou (13M ppl) in 600miles. But the entire railway department tries to avoid the term HSR as much as possible. The 200 miles of Wuhan-Changsha leg, we called it a new modernized intercity railway, the 120 miles of Changsha-Hengyang section, we called it two additional tracks beside the Beijing-Guangzhou railway (because of this section of railway already at capacity at that time). and Hengyang-Guangzhou section, we call it Passenger dedicated line. in late 2009, when all 3 sections are built. We just start to call it a high-speed railway.
Of course, as an authoritarian country, the gov can ignore any critics to the project which they insist to build. But even they are very smart in the Public relation, avoid proposing a huge project in the beginning, instead, when the line did not finish, keep it low tone. Using the term which the public think it is less ambitious and less costly.