"China's Economic Tower Of Babel"

CHALEUNSOUK, Laos - The rice fields that blanketed this remote mountain village for generations are gone. In their place rise neat rows of young rubber trees — their sap destined for China.

All 60 families in this dirt-poor, mud-caked village of gaunt men and hunched women are now growing rubber, like thousands of others across the rugged mountains of northern Laos. They hope in coming years to reap huge profits from the tremendous demand for rubber just across the frontier in China.

As Beijing scrambles to feed its galloping economy, it has already scoured the world for mining and logging concessions. Now it is turning to crops to feed its people and industries. Chinese enterprises are snapping up vast tracts of land abroad and forging contract farming deals

From Southeast Asia to Africa, the Chinese are farming oil palm, eucalyptus, teak, corn, cassava, sugar cane, rubber and other crops. As in Laos, the industrial-size farms are variously viewed as an ecological nightmare or a big step toward slashing poverty.

In Congo, a Chinese telecommunications giant, ZTE International, has bought more than 7 million acres of forest to plant oil palms. In Zimbabwe, state-owned China International Water and Electric Corp. reportedly received rights from the government to farm 250,000 acres of corn in the south.

Indonesia is moving to develop biofuel plantations with The China National Overseas Oil Corporation. The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency, an advocacy group, believes other deals are in the works, often through proxy companies because of long-running anti-Chinese sentiment in the country. The group says the project would destroy natural forest.

In Myanmar, rubber concessions have gone to at least two Chinese companies, Ho Nan Ching and Yunnan Hongyu. Refugees fleeing Myanmar's military regime say troops are forcibly evicting farmers to make way for rubber plantations, including some run by Chinese enterprises.

A Chinese-Cambodian joint venture, Pheapimex-Wuzhishan, converted land of the Phong tribal people into a tree plantation 20 times larger than allowed by law in Cambodia, according to the environmental group Global Witness. The group says the concession in Mondulkiri province encroached on grazing grounds, destroyed sacred sites and used toxic herbicides.

The emergence of China in the global political economy

Scott Kennedy, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Indiana University, speaks to the Warwick Commission about the emergence of China in the global political economy

     The economy of China is growing at a rate that has never been seen before in human history. In terms of industry, technology and wealth, China will soon overtake the United States of America as the richest country on the face of the earth. Since Chinese reforms in the 70's China has transformed itself from an agrarian Communist society to an industrial free market global power, with billions of dollars invested in many countries all over the world, even here in America. The Chinese people are a very focused and goal oriented people who think and act as one, much like the ancient Babylonians in building the "Tower Of Babel". Their need for the world's natural resources is becoming insatiable. Is the rising Chinese economic and political power something that America and the world be concerned about?

      In my opinion, as long as China is concerned about human rights, the environment and the interdependence of our global economy, America and the rest of the world have no need to fear China as an economic power. The problem , as I see it, is the fact that China has a long history of human rights violations, pollution and acting only in it's own national self interest and not to be forgotten, China is also a military and nuclear power today, rivaling the US and Russia. What China can't buy, China can take. America, for all it's flaws and excesses, has at it's core the democratic principles of freedom, fairness and equal opportunity for all. At Her core, America is good. China has indeed embraced the free enterprise system but has She truly embraced democracy? Is China at Her core good? It behooves us all to keep an eye on China and pray for China as She continues building Her economic and political "Tower Of Babel".

tags: china  free enterprise  the economy  globalism  us  power  tower of babel  

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