Sep
28
Is Beijing turning Africa into a “new slave empire?”
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British writer Peter Hitchens has a long and compelling firsthand account in the Daily Mail (a British newspaper) of what Hitchens refers to as China’s “new slave empire” in Africa:
These poor, hopeless, angry people exist by grubbing for scraps of cobalt and copper ore in the filth and dust of abandoned copper mines in Congo, sinking perilous 80ft shafts by hand, washing their finds in cholera-infected streams full of human filth, then pushing enormous two-hundredweight loads uphill on ancient bicycles to the nearby town of Likasi where middlemen buy them to sell on, mainly to Chinese businessmen hungry for these vital metals.
To see them, as they plod miserably past, is to be reminded of pictures of unemployed miners in Thirties Britain, stumbling home in the drizzle with sacks of coal scraps gleaned from spoil heaps.
Except that here the unsparing heat makes the labour five times as hard, and the conditions of work and life are worse by far than any known in England since the 18th Century.
Many perish as their primitive mines collapse on them, or are horribly injured without hope of medical treatment. Many are little more than children. On a good day they may earn $3, which just supports a meagre existence in diseased, malarial slums.
We had been earlier to this awful pit, which looked like a penal colony in an ancient slave empire.
Defeated, bowed figures toiled endlessly in dozens of hand-dug pits. Their faces, when visible, were blank and without hope.
We had been turned away by a fat, corrupt policeman who pretended our papers weren’t in order, but who was really taking instructions from a dead-eyed, one-eared gangmaster who sat next to him.
By the time we returned with more official permits, the gangmasters had readied the ambush.
The diggers feared – and their evil, sinister bosses had worked hard on that fear – that if people like me publicised their filthy way of life, then the mine might be closed and the $3 a day might be taken away.
I can give you no better explanation in miniature of the wicked thing that I believe is now happening in Africa.
Out of desperation, much of the continent is selling itself into a new era of corruption and virtual slavery as China seeks to buy up all the metals, minerals and oil she can lay her hands on: copper for electric and telephone cables, cobalt for mobile phones and jet engines – the basic raw materials of modern life.
It is no accident that in many parts of the world where thuggery and misery rule, Beijing can be found hard at work keeping things that way.
As an interesting aside, here is Peter’s brother Christopher Hitchens on Beijing’s numerous client regimes and captive nations.
Sep
21
Krause on Obama and Taiwan in the Colorado Daily
Filed Under China, Taiwan | 2 Comments
I turned my recent blog post on Barack Obama and Taiwan into an op-ed piece for the Colorado Daily newspaper (which is the newspaper of the University of Colorado at Boulder) and which was published in yesterday’s edition. The online version is available here.
Here is the published piece in its entirety (with one small typo fixed):
On March 22, Taiwan held a presidential election. Ma Ying-Jeou of the Nationalist Party defeated the Democratic Progressive Party candidate. It was Taiwan’s second peaceful transfer of party power through democratic elections, an excellent sign of a healthy and maturing democracy
Commenting on Ma’s election, Sen. Barack Obama stated that the U.S. should respond by “rebuilding a relationship of trust and support” with democratic Taiwan. “The U.S. should reopen blocked channels of communication with Taiwan officials,” Obama said.
This would actually be a hugely significant step towards recognizing the obvious — that Taiwan is a sovereign and democratic nation deserving of formal relations with the United States. It would also be a step that would undoubtedly annoy Communist China, Taiwan’s thuggish and bullying neighbor.
So does Obama mean it?
When Obama touched on “America’s promise abroad” during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, the candidate mentioned both protecting Israel and standing up for Georgia. And indeed, the U.S. has a long history of both supporting emerging democracies and standing by existing democracies under threat from hostile neighbors. Taiwan certainly fits this bill.
Problem is that the Chinese communists in Beijing claim sovereignty over democratic Taiwan — even though it is obvious that Taiwan functions as an independent state.
Unfortunately, the U.S. continues to appease Beijing’s claim over Taiwan through recognition of “one China,” a weak and outdated policy that goes back to a 1972 “joint communiqué” issued by President Nixon and Chinese dictator Mao Tse-Tung.
Since then Taiwan has transformed itself from an authoritarian regime and into a representative democracy with a dynamic market economy — precisely the kind of country whose representatives should be able to communicate directly with Washington, D.C.
In October 2007, Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 48, which, among other things, called for a lifting of travel restrictions to the U.S. by “high level and elected officials of Taiwan, including the president of Taiwan” and for “direct cabinet-level exchanges in order to strengthen a policy dialogue with Taiwan.”
Yet missing from the very short list of co-sponsors for the resolution was Obama (to be fair, Sen. John McCain, along with the majority of the rest of the U.S. Senate, was also absent as a co-sponsor).
So months before Obama stated that the U.S. “should reopen blocked channels of communications with Taiwan officials,” he had an opportunity to both co-sponsor and help push through his committee a resolution advocating for just such a re-opening of communication with Taiwan.
Actions speak louder than words. And Obama’s failure to take action — even such symbolic action as a concurrent resolution — to “reopen” blocked communication with democratic Taiwan makes his statement about “rebuilding a relationship of trust and support” with Taiwan seem like little more than campaign rhetoric.
Sep
17
United Nations still kowtowing to Beijing over Taiwanese journalists
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Beijing’s toadies at the United Nations are still hard at work appeasing China’s ludicrous claim over democratic Taiwan. From Taiwan’s Central News Agency:
The United Nations has refused for years to issue press accreditation to Taiwanese journalists for the annual meeting on the grounds that Taiwan is not a U.N. member state.
The policy continued for the 63rd session of the General Assembly that opened Sept. 16 in New York.
Taiwanese journalists used to be able to cover the annual World Health Assembly held every May in Geneva, but authorization was withdrawn in 2004 under pressure from China.
If we ever end up with a League of Democratic Nations–leaving the UN to the thugocracies of the world–one of its first pieces of business, after inviting Taiwan to be a member, should be to bar Chinese journalists.
Sep
10
Republican Platform on Taiwan and China
Filed Under China, Taiwan, Tibet | 2 Comments
The 2008 Republican Party Platform was released earlier this month, including positions on both Taiwan and China.
First Taiwan:
Our policy toward Taiwan, a sound democracy and economic model for mainland China, must continue to be based upon the provisions of the Taiwan Relations Act. We oppose any unilateral steps by either side to alter the status quo in the Taiwan straits on the principle that all issues regarding the island’s future must be resolved peacefully, through dialogue, and be agreeable to the people of Taiwan. If China were to violate these principles, the U.S., in accord with the Taiwan Relations Act, will help Taiwan defend itself. As a loyal friend of America, the democracy of Taiwan has merited our strong support, including the timely sale of defensive arms and full participation in the World Health Organization and other multilateral institutions.
A fairly strong statement, but one that seeks to maintain the “status quo” between Taiwan and China…unfortunately, the status quo means Chinese ballistic missiles pointed at Taiwan and threats of violence against the Taiwanese people by Beijing..so more American aquiescence to the archaic “one China” policy.
Now China:
We will welcome the emergence of a peaceful and prosperous China, and we will welcome even more the development of a democratic China. Its rulers have already discovered that economic freedom leads to national wealth; the next lesson is that political and religious freedom leads to national greatness. That is not likely to be learned while the government in Beijing pursues advanced military capabilities without any apparent need, imposes a “one-child” policy on its people, suppresses basic human rights in Tibet and elsewhere, and erodes democracy in Hong Kong. China must honor its obligations regarding free speech and a free press as announced prior to the Olympics.
Our bilateral trade with China has created export opportunities for American farmers and workers, while both the requirements of the World Trade Organization and the realities of the marketplace have increased openness and the rule of law in China. We must yet ensure that China fulfills its WTO obligations, especially those related to protecting intellectual property rights, elimination of subsidies, and repeal of import restrictions. China’s full integration into the global economy requires that it adopt a flexible monetary exchange rate and allow free movement of capital. China’s economic growth brings with it the responsibility for environmental improvement, both for its own people and for the world community.
Nice.
Sep
7
Candidate McCain on China
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Senator John McCain has a lengthy article laying out his view of American foreign policy in the November/December 2007 edition of Foreign Affairs. Here’s a part of his section on China:
China could also bolster its claim that it is “peacefully rising” by being more transparent about its significant military buildup. When China builds new submarines, adds hundreds of new jet fighters, modernizes its arsenal of strategic ballistic missiles, and tests antisatellite weapons, the United States legitimately must question the intent of such provocative acts. When China threatens democratic Taiwan with a massive arsenal of missiles and warlike rhetoric, the United States must take note. When China enjoys close economic and diplomatic relations with pariah states such as Burma, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, tension will result. When China proposes regional forums and economic arrangements designed to exclude America from Asia, the United States will react.
China and the United States are not destined to be adversaries. We have numerous overlapping interests. U.S.-Chinese relations can benefit both countries and, in turn, the Asia-Pacific region and the world. But until China moves toward political liberalization, our relationship will be based on periodically shared interests rather than the bedrock of shared values.
“Periodicaly shared interests” sounds about right as a policy towards China, at least as long as Beijing remains a thuggish authoritarian regime.
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