November 13, 2006
African Wage Slavery
Last week's summit in Beijing of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation concluded with nearly USA $2 billion worth of contracted investment by Chinese companies in Africa.
For Cape Verde, cement and ceramics factories will be built and in Sierra Leone an industrial park will focus on light industry and export products. These are just a few examples of the spread of Chinese capital into Africa.
What little world press attention was paid to the summit absurdly cast the Chinese as new "colonizers" of Africa and plunderers of African resources. As though it was only OK for the USA or Europe to exploit African resources. Nigeria is after all the USA's fifth largest supplier of crude oil.
Chinese investment in Africa goes back decades. In 1961, an internal policy directive of China's army declared "the center of struggle between East and West is Africa." From that point on China has built railways on the continent, assembly halls for newly independent African governments, mines, roads, and other projects.
China has acted as mentor to many african countries and helped them to develop their economies so that they are not limited to exploiting natural resources. The renewed interest of the Chinese in africa may just be the beginning of China's own outsource movement, relocating low value labor intensive industries to Africa where labor is even cheaper than in China. On one level, this may be nothing more than bringing wage slavery to Africa's people but with factory jobs and wages the Chinese carefully cultivate new African consumers for all sorts of Chinese products from clothing to guns. And help Africa develop urban societies and cities.
For Cape Verde, cement and ceramics factories will be built and in Sierra Leone an industrial park will focus on light industry and export products. These are just a few examples of the spread of Chinese capital into Africa.
What little world press attention was paid to the summit absurdly cast the Chinese as new "colonizers" of Africa and plunderers of African resources. As though it was only OK for the USA or Europe to exploit African resources. Nigeria is after all the USA's fifth largest supplier of crude oil.
Chinese investment in Africa goes back decades. In 1961, an internal policy directive of China's army declared "the center of struggle between East and West is Africa." From that point on China has built railways on the continent, assembly halls for newly independent African governments, mines, roads, and other projects.
China has acted as mentor to many african countries and helped them to develop their economies so that they are not limited to exploiting natural resources. The renewed interest of the Chinese in africa may just be the beginning of China's own outsource movement, relocating low value labor intensive industries to Africa where labor is even cheaper than in China. On one level, this may be nothing more than bringing wage slavery to Africa's people but with factory jobs and wages the Chinese carefully cultivate new African consumers for all sorts of Chinese products from clothing to guns. And help Africa develop urban societies and cities.
October 30, 2006
USA Warns Taiwan and China
Despite upcoming elections that may challenge their one-party rule, Republicans stir up a storm of bluster aimed at Taiwan AND China this week. First, Stephen Young, the head of the American Institute in Taiwan (USA's arms peddler), warned Taiwan's parliament that they'd better cough up $13 billion for the 2001 arms package or else... The opposition party has long questioned the importance of the huge arms deal (orginally closer to $20 billion) that would chiefly benefit Lockheed-Martin and various Congressional pork projects such as reopening diesel submarine manufacturing in declining port cities of Connecticut or Mississippi.
Meanwhile, this week Congress's "US-China Economic Security Review Commission" is to reveal its annual report of the great China Threat. The commission, created in 2000 as a compromise to the Republicans for support of Clinton's China trade deal (that guaranteed Chinese admission to WTO), is an absurd assemblage of former members of the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups and former staffers of Congress members with well known anti-China biases (Nancy Pelosi, William Byrd, etc.). It annual assessment has about as much validity as the China report put out by the Pentagon each year with similar fanfare. Indeed the commission is looking for expertise on the subject. You can apply here.
Meanwhile, this week Congress's "US-China Economic Security Review Commission" is to reveal its annual report of the great China Threat. The commission, created in 2000 as a compromise to the Republicans for support of Clinton's China trade deal (that guaranteed Chinese admission to WTO), is an absurd assemblage of former members of the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups and former staffers of Congress members with well known anti-China biases (Nancy Pelosi, William Byrd, etc.). It annual assessment has about as much validity as the China report put out by the Pentagon each year with similar fanfare. Indeed the commission is looking for expertise on the subject. You can apply here.
Where's The Outrage?
Less than a year ago a months old protest by unhappy villagers in Dongzhou county, Guangdong Province, China, was ended by police action. As the protesters clashed with riot police, shots were fired and there were fatalities. The news of this incident was quickly broadcast throughout the American press, first by the US Government founded and supported "Radio Free Asia," followed by smaller syndicates of conservative and anti-China newspapers, and then -- days later -- picked up by the major dailies once their Beijing bureau chiefs got confirmation that something had happened (details were always sketchy) and they could be roused from their favorite restaurants and nightclubs.
For days headlines screamed about the horrors of Beijing's "killer cops" and "Tiananmen China." I argued that the riots needed to be seen in a historical perspective as they were economic born, similar to the "Memorial Day Massacre" in Chicago during the Great Depression.
On Friday (October 27) an American journalist from Indymedia.org was killed by Mexican riot police. For days Mexican federal officials with tanks, helicopters, planes, and plain-clothed armed thugs (as opposed to county and provincial level police in the Dongzhou protests) have battled protestors in Oaxaca, Mexico. The riots continue. But where is the widespread condemnation? Where is the outrage about human rights and abuse of state power?
Because Mexico is America's "backyard" (informal colony) their is no protest nor national news stories. Only the hollow echo of a double standard.
For days headlines screamed about the horrors of Beijing's "killer cops" and "Tiananmen China." I argued that the riots needed to be seen in a historical perspective as they were economic born, similar to the "Memorial Day Massacre" in Chicago during the Great Depression.
On Friday (October 27) an American journalist from Indymedia.org was killed by Mexican riot police. For days Mexican federal officials with tanks, helicopters, planes, and plain-clothed armed thugs (as opposed to county and provincial level police in the Dongzhou protests) have battled protestors in Oaxaca, Mexico. The riots continue. But where is the widespread condemnation? Where is the outrage about human rights and abuse of state power?
Because Mexico is America's "backyard" (informal colony) their is no protest nor national news stories. Only the hollow echo of a double standard.
October 27, 2006
Biggest IPO Ever is Chinese
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), which opened the first post Mao share trading counter in Shanghai in 1986, debuted on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges today and will taken in almost $22 billion (USA dollars) after the exercise of its "green shoe" option. The IPO is the most lucrative in history and drawfs the previous record holder, the 1998 IPO of Japanese telcom firm DoCoMo.
ICBC is now already the world's 5th largest bank with a stock market capitalization at over $156 billion.
ICBC is now already the world's 5th largest bank with a stock market capitalization at over $156 billion.
October 20, 2006
So Happy Not Together
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice leaves Beijing for Moscow today capping off a frenzied effort to revive the "six party talks" on North Korea's nukes (minus North Korea). After her meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing Rice and Li wished each other "happiness" and revealed that the real focus of Ms. Rice is on forming another multi-party talks, this time on Iran.
There has been no rejection nor qualification from the USA of Chinese special envoy Tang Jiaxuan's declaration that diplomacy is the only option to deal with Pyongyang. Indeed, the American and Chinese response to the North Korea nuke crisis is characterized by a general weariness. Neither of the Koreas' putative parents seems that interested in finding a real solution to their 53 year-old custody battle. Of course the Chinese have no real concern in finding a solution. Kim Jong-Il's bombs now ensure that someday a reunified Korea won't feature American bases anywhere near the Chinese border. And besides, Kim now says he is "sorry." What parent wouldn't accept that?
There has been no rejection nor qualification from the USA of Chinese special envoy Tang Jiaxuan's declaration that diplomacy is the only option to deal with Pyongyang. Indeed, the American and Chinese response to the North Korea nuke crisis is characterized by a general weariness. Neither of the Koreas' putative parents seems that interested in finding a real solution to their 53 year-old custody battle. Of course the Chinese have no real concern in finding a solution. Kim Jong-Il's bombs now ensure that someday a reunified Korea won't feature American bases anywhere near the Chinese border. And besides, Kim now says he is "sorry." What parent wouldn't accept that?
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
