From The International Herald Tribune, via A Glimpse of the World:
China’s awesome performance in many basic industries, like textiles, which is achieved in part through overinvestment, comes at the expense of many of the world’s poorest countries, which simply cannot compete.
So far, the Chinese bargain offered to these countries has been all about natural resources, starting with energy. Search as one might for a broader, more uplifting theme, the essence of China’s approach was best put by the deputy foreign minister, Zhou Wenzhong, when he was asked in an interview last year how Beijing justifies its position as the biggest foreign investor in Sudanese oil in the midst of an ongoing genocide in that country. “Business is business,” Zhou shot back.
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“China’s view is not a moral view, but a view based on realism; it’s one that hasn’t got much to do with human rights,” said Shen Dingli, an expert in international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai. “But it is not sustainable. If China wants to attain a bigger worldwide leadership role, this will not help it qualify. China is going to have to be more politically correct, and to add more values to its foreign policy.”
Technorati Tags: China, Human Rights
