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For Chinese neighbours, caution is the byword and trade the catchword - part two

By Tony Henderson - posted Monday, 27 June 2005


France too is making a lot of noise about the way their textiles industry is affected by China as well as that of Europe generally. The US is complaining in like manner as a fair-sized chunk of its employment is built around textiles and garments production.

China is surging ahead not just because of cheap labour but also because recent investment in its industries have brought the latest technology into play. The country is well placed to consolidate its entry into the world markets for quite some time. It seems unstoppable. It is seen as a juggernaut.

China’s boom-time is also affecting the world trade in raw materials as its importers reach out to every continent seeking everything imaginable, but particularly oil, ores, minerals, wood and foodstuffs.

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Its citizens, on the other hand, are trickling out from its farthest flung border regions and building up communities of Han Chinese among ethnically and culturally quite different peoples. Not only that, countries far from China are receiving many immigrants as many Chinese actively seek a better life rather than engage in the competitive, dog-eat-dog lifestyle that is such a tough motivating force at home.

Conclusion

This is what can happen when the “big boys” get involved with their neighbours. This is why smaller nations baulk at offers of friendship treaties and the like, including interest-free loans which come with strings attached.

China’s neighbours would rather stay at arms length but given the economic might of China, looming ever larger on the world scale, those countries surrounding China on all sides cannot extricate themselves from its influence. It’s the proximity factor. It is what created the “ugly American” syndrome where an apparent “do gooder” went seriously astray and despite seeming good intentions, wreaked havoc on a wide scale. That havoc was largely covered up by the comprador bourgeoisie and their ilk.

While it is important to deal with China in good faith - those dealing with China must of course believe what is proposed by government officials - that belief must not be facile or superficial. Where there is trust a lot can be achieved but what is fed to the media at much publicised state visits to neighbouring countries hardly describes the real situations that exist.

Governments are well known for airing “catch-all” phrases and for not bringing up the tough trading points. Each nation has to fight for decent conditions of trade but it is also understood that the big powers by their very nature can bully and browbeat lesser nations into one-sided trade deals.

Fair play is rarely encountered in the business world simply because business relies on getting the best possible deal. The caveat emptor - buyer beware - motto comes to the fore. But the big powers are also a victim of their own size and that is why empires fall in the end. Until then, the lesser nations have to tread warily and negotiate with wisdom.

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When it comes to China and the stance of its neighbours, caution is the byword, trade is the catchword.

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Read part one here.



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About the Author

Tony Henderson is a freelance writer and chairman of the Humanist Association of Hong Kong.

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