Is China buying up the world?

While the world cup started and is currently captivating the media, it appeared to me that another event seems to have passed quite unnoticed. Following the disaster of the Greek economic situation, China came in the form of a white knight. It might be a good deal for debt-ridden Greece but I wonder how this situation will turn out. China has already been strongly developing its ties in Africa and in the Middle East. It seems like China is trying to get a foothold in Europe so it could better protect its own interest. This deal would mostly concern maritim arrangements in the Piraeus port and some touristic contracts. Somehow, it reminds me of the way the EU soft power operates: investing heavily in developing countries and then forcing them to adopt positions more favourable to EU standards, most of the time they concern human rights and other subjects linked to freedom and lifestyle or simply business wise, it could be related to a sort of bullying. Same goes for China, unfortunately for Greece; the Chinese government does not have the same credentials as the EU governments of nowadays. In a parallel story, India is suspicious of Chinese exportations and its government is taking measures to ensure that Chinese equipments do not contain spywares, so Greece could provide the perfect foothold on Old Europe for the Chinese to install more spywares. Interestingly, I could not find a lot of articles in the western press on this event but I found a 2009 article, in French on this Chinese website, talking about a China-Greek deal in the Piraeus port but recently nothing bar an article concerning the rehearsal of a Greek tragedy at the Experimental Theatre of Beijing......


While browsing this website I found an article describing how China was slamming US pressure on RMB exchange rate and another one, including a poll, trying to find some argument to explain this situation, as if this situation was only affecting the US. The low exchange rate of the Chinese currency is a major component in China’s economic growth as it favours its exportations. At the same time, China and its government want to have the respect of the world for their achievement and keep their currency at the level of a developing nation, in a word they want to have their cake and eat it. What stroke me was the rhetoric employed which is bare of any critical spirit: everything seems to between China and the US when it comes to troubles and otherwise China is a peaceful nation. It is not surprising, yet it is the first time I have ventured on these kind of “news” sites and it was a shock.

However the million dollar question is what would happen when China’s soft power on developed nations will not be enough; indeed, it is plausible to believe that developed nations should be more reluctant to be told what to do as they have more choices and power than developing nations, and what would then happen to China’s "harmonious world"?

-C

partnership or rivalry?

These last weeks had shown that the relationship between the USA and China was not as close at it had seemed to be but rather maybe just a convenient fling. In fact, following the Google charade this past month, the refusal of China to revaluate its currency, the Yuan, despite cries from the West, and the sale of weapons from the USA to Taiwan (worth $6,5 Billion) Chinese relationships have turned cold. As a result, the Asian giant decided to cut short all its military relations with the largest military power in the world. In addition, President Obama’s decision to see the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, provoked another row with the Chinese—they do look favourably on foreign governments supporting the Buddhist leader. The behaviour of the Chinese government during the Copenhagen summit was also exemplary for its casualness and a major cause for its failure.

More and more, China has been seen as reacting in a capricious way. The media has been justifying this reaction because of the weight of the Communist state in the world economy. The Chinese for example, had enough power to cancel a visit to Europe last year because Nicolas Sarkozy, possessing at the time the presidency of the EU, was scheduled to meet the Dalai Lama. They further have the power to intrude in African affairs. The Chinese are not anymore largely welcomed in Africa by the locals as they can arguably be charged with exploiting African natural resources. (Claims, however, none too different from those made towards Europeans in Africa or even Americans in the Middle East). This lead Jack Straw to compared their actions to neo-colonialism, comment that he had to apologize for, of course.
These events seem to show that China is willing to prove the world that it is a force to be reckoned with. That is a fair request, however, how long will they be provoking the other nations? Indeed, China might be powerful but it suffers many problems internally and is heavily dependent on its exports and rely on a undervalued currency. It would probably not be wise for them to continue this behaviour and whether they possess the first population in the world doesn’t make them able to behave like nouveaux riches.

-C