Posted on 04/27/2012 7:16:04 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi insists China is now coming to the rescue of Africa after a failed Western ideology of the past three decades has let the continent down.
He said the so-called Washington Consensus that aimed to liberalize the economies of developing countries had demonstrably failed and the Chinese were now picking up the pieces.
"The official doctrine among the international financial institutions which in the past determined policy in Africa was that infrastructure would be taken care of by the private sector. Well, we have waited 30 years and nothing much has happened," he said.
"When the Chinese companies came in and started building infrastructure in a big way they were filling this major gap in the development of Africa. We, in Africa, should feel very satisfied with it."
(Excerpt) Read more at usa.chinadaily.com.cn ...
The day after 9-11, the Chinese released a list of 14 countries (IIRC) who's citizens would not be allowed to travel on any China Air Lines airplanes. They were all countries in which islam is the dominant religion.
The Chinese Government simply said "if you are carrying a passport from one of these countries, you won't be allowed on our aircraft." They apologized for the inconvenience this would cause, and said they would refund the price of any tickets already purchased by individuals who would not be allowed to fly.
No ifs, ands, or buts. No exceptions, and no soul searching.
The announcement was hardly noticed in all the post 9-11 hubbub. I don't know if it's still in force.
China has more people than the entire continent of Africa. Plus they have lots of cash, and lots of very smart people.
All they have to do, when they encounter any group or faction which give them trouble, is to discretely supply some rival faction with cash and arms, and have it be understood that the troublesome faction is to be completely exterminated, including the elderly and the babies. The prettier women may be distributed among the victors.
Repeat the process until there are no more Africans left.
Good, let China pour their money into that bottomless pit for a while. God knows we’ve wasted enough over the years out of some sense of obligation or racial guilt.
The day after 9-11, the Chinese released a list of 14 countries (IIRC) who's citizens would not be allowed to travel on any China Air Lines airplanes. They were all countries in which islam is the dominant religion.
The Chinese Government simply said "if you are carrying a passport from one of these countries, you won't be allowed on our aircraft." They apologized for the inconvenience this would cause, and said they would refund the price of any tickets already purchased by individuals who would not be allowed to fly.
No ifs, ands, or buts. No exceptions, and no soul searching.
The announcement was hardly noticed in all the post 9-11 hubbub. I don't know if it's still in force.
The Chinese know how to deal with Muslims. Most people don't realize that China has a sizeable Muslim population on it's western border. About once ever decade the Muslims start causing problems, a car bombing or two, some demonstrations. The Chinese quickly nip these in the bud by sending in the tanks and killing a bunch of them, which tends to keep the rest cowed and submissive for another decade.
October 12, 2001
Chinese Airlines Halt Mideast Sales By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:55 p.m. ET
HONG KONG (AP) — Beijing authorities have instructed Chinese airlines in Hong Kong to halt ticket sales to nationals of 19 countries, mainly in the Middle East.
China National Aviation Corp., the sole agent of 10 mainland airlines in Hong Kong, told travel agents in an Oct. 3 memo to stop selling tickets to China to holders of certain passports and to refund tickets already bought.
China has tightened controls on Middle Easterners trying to travel to mainland China in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States and the retaliatory strikes on Afghanistan.
The memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, urged travel agents to comply with rules issued by China's Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Civil Aviation Administration imposing “strict controls’’ on travelers. It was unclear if the memo had been sent to travel agents in other countries.
A marketing manager at Air China, who identified herself only by the surname Leung, said the carrier's Hong Kong office received instructions from the Beijing headquarters to impose the ban for “safety reasons.’’
The memo said added that there would not be “a total ban’’ — wording that may have been meant to allow room for diplomats or dignitaries to travel.
A deputy marketing manager of the China National Aviation Corp., who identified herself only by the surname He, refused to answer questions about the memo, saying the matter was “the business of a commercial company’’ and not the public’s concern.
Pakistani diplomats have complained that Beijing appears to have imposed a virtual ban on their nationals trying to visit mainland China. Some Middle Eastern consulates have also said that China has tightened entry requirements.
China's Foreign Ministry has acknowledged that entry rules are changed from time to time, but it disputed contentions this week that any nationalities have been singled out.
China's Civil Aviation Administration and the official spokesmen of three carriers — Air China, China Eastern and China Southern — denied a ban existed on Middle Eastern air travelers.
“We do not know such a thing,’’ said a CAA official in Beijing, who refused to give his name. The CAA official said, however, that Chinese airlines have canceled flights to Pakistan and Kuwait.
The Chinese memo said tickets should not be issued to holders of the following passports: Afghanistan, Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Sudan, Libya, Algeria and Pakistan. Holders of Palestinian passports were also barred
very interesting - that’s the only way it would work - would love to know more. Do you have any links to more information.
Possible, but today’s Chinese aren’t that ruthless.
The people who were at Tiananmen Square might disagree with you.
If African resources are necessary to keep the Chinese ruling elite from being thrown out of power for another few years, then they will be as ruthless as they need to be.
Many of their natural resource recovery projects are also in these "special" zones.
Lastly, the Chinese WILL enforce their rights, and have the manpower to do so if necessary, but it won't be.
The Chinese developed a model for doing this during the period of hard-line Communism in their country.
Here's how it was explained to me by a Chinese person I know very well:
When the government (whether national or provincial) determined that, say, a new school was needed to handle new population in a certain place, they would look around for some real estate. Once that was found, construction would begin. That construction project was planned, funded, and carried out just as if they were building a new school on Mars. The construction planning included a new water supply, a new sewage treatment system, often a new electrical system, dormatories for all school employees, a canteen and food market for the all school employees, a medical clinic, etc.
This formula was necessary because (1) of central planning, and (2) because most of China lacked infrastructure, and Mao wanted a "great leap forward" to spread rapidly across the whole country.
The reason I say it was necessary because of "central planning" is because, if you were in charge of setting up a new school, you could be confident that the "central planners" had not included your school project in their planning of a few years ago. Thus, you could assume that existing infrastructure included no excess capacity, no hook-ups, for your project. Hence, you had to supply them yourself.
I've no doubt that this is the "toolkit" they're using to set up facilities in Africa.
What isn't clear, is that the free market system, that took the West hundreds of years to develop, through legislation and regulatory practices, market theory, etc. was not developed by just "leaving it alone" as Adam Smith would say.
And China, brings to Africa, a government hand to a relatively chaotic continent. Free markets do work better, but in its timing.
That is why Putin is still suspicious of the West. The old Soviet Union bought into the free markets of the West, liberalized their economy, and now has one of the worst wealth distribution in Europe, if not thee worst. And infrastructure development hasn't improved as much as one would have expected.
That's because, while the West preached free market reform, leave it alone philosophy, they left out the part, that even in the Western world and the US, the government played a large role in developing the economy.
The West got many developing countries to be more capitalistic, free for all, than the West themselves. And before the country could develop all the regulatory practices.
The Prime Minister is right to praise the Chinese. Without the rise in commodity prices and China's government attempt to extract resources, Africa wouldn't be growing as quick as they are. But the flip side is, China was able to structure her economy, to compete with the West, economically, thereby building an economy via intergration with the West. In other words, the West may have done a poor job in Africa over the last 30 years and China has been more successful, but without China integrating into the West, China would not have the wealth to make African resources valuable to them.
China will be good for the developing world. She will single handedly DOUBLE the number of people living in a developed country in the next 25 years or so. Thereby increasing the value of commodities and manufacturing labor in the developing world.
China's rise brings a sort of shagrin to many in the developed world. But her rise it necessary to pull along the rest of the planet. Or, rather, will double the economic strength of the developed world, which thereby, enriches the developing world.
“The people who were at Tiananmen Square might disagree with you.”
Those people who done did that be dead. The Chinese will try to get away with what they can, but they won’t exterminate Africans.
Not at all. It takes an Egyptian businessman 18 days to get a visa to visit the USA. He can get a visa for China in one day. Our shiny new Security State is cutting the throat of our economy even more effectively than Obama's socialist impulses. But I guess if it keeps one child safe, it's worth it. /s
China is courting the Middle Eastern and Latin American countries, following the same path they took in Africa.
They won't need to. They just need to import their own people to get work done, and deal harshly with any Africans who show up where they are not wanted. Basically treat them like the cowboys treated the Indians.
China can have it.
That's because one vital component is something that makes sure that somebody's work isn't expropriated by gangsters. Russia is not a free-market system, it's an oligarchic gangster economy to a large extent.
But I do believe, had they gone slowly, and opened their economy more slowly, they would be better off today.
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