MCLC: is China good for the developing world

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Anne Henochowicz <anne at chinadigitaltimes.net>
Subject: is China good for the developing world
*********************************************************

Source: China Dialogue (2/27/13):
http://www.chinadialogue.net/blog/5743-Is-China-good-for-the-developing-wor
ld-/en

Is China good for the developing world?
by Tom Levitt 

China really an opportunity for the developing world, we asked ourselves
throughout the course of our travels. For better or for worse, there is no
doubt that the country¹s expansion has left deep marks on the countries it
has affected. However, it would be unfair to play down the positive impact
that this expansion has had ­ either directly or indirectly ­ on millions
of people around the planet. We much not forget the thousands of jobs
created, the flow of capital generated by its long-term commitments to
purchase natural resources, or the new infrastructure it has built in the
developing world. Equally, it would be wrong to dismiss the cheap products
made in the Œfactory of the world¹ which are affordable for low-income
populations, China¹s multi-million-dollar investments or its aid and
co-operation projects.

However, as well as the other negative factors which go hand in hand with
China¹s expansion ­ such as corruption, the total disregard for human
rights, and its actions¹ impact on the environment ­ all China¹s good work
is undoubtedly eclipsed by itsapproach to labour conditions
<http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/5736-China-s-elitist-a
pproach-to-overseas-investments>. This factor has arguably caused the most
harm to China¹s image abroad, particularly because of the visibility and
sensibility of a subject that affects the poorest of the poor, as we saw
for ourselves in the mines of Peru and Burma, the building sites of Sudan
and Angola, the big infrastructure projects in Mozambique and the mining
sites of Zambia¹s mineral deposits.

The Chinese companies¹ casual treatment of their employees, contempt
towards unions and complete lack of concern about alleviating conflict ­ a
consequence of their stubborn, almost despotic approach to their position
of power ­ inevitably brings to mind past colonialism in Africa, but this
time with Chinese characteristics. ŒCommon trends at Chinese businesses in
Africa [included] hostile attitudes towards trade unions, various
violations of workers¹ rights, poor working conditions and several
instances of discrimination and unfair labour practices¹, a recent study
into the workplace situation in Chinese companies in ten African countries
concluded.

Troubles in Mozambique

We were therefore not surprised by the blunt conclusion of Boyd Chibale,
the Kitwe union leader, when he told us that Œthe Chinese are ripping off
lots of money and are giving back very little¹. Back in Maputo, the
sociologist Joao Feijo also struck at the foundations of the Œmutually
beneficial co-operation¹ on which Sino-African relations are based. ŒThe
Chinese companies are not doing anything for Mozambique; they¹re doing it
for themselves. But I don't think the Chinese really care,¹ he concluded.

The description of what is really happening on the ground grates horribly
<http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/5736-China-s-elitist-a
pproach-to-overseas-investments> against the background of Chinese
official rhetoric. While the sign over the entrance to the Maputo National
Stadium, in one of Africa¹s poorest countries, boasts that Œfriendship
between China and Mozambique will prevail like Heaven and Earth¹, Chinese
companies are nor even paying their local employees enough to meet their
basic needs. What is more, the salaries they pay them are six times less
than those of their Chinese employees.

The troubled workplace situation, which has severely damaged China¹s image
in many of the affected areas, does not seem like a particularly difficult
problem to solve. What is preventing these companies from handing out
employment contracts, paying their employees an extra $50 per month or
offering them basic medical insurance? What is stopping them from
providing their workers with regulation gloves or helmets, or putting some
meat or cheese inside those bread rolls? What is preventing them from
treating their workers with dignity and using dialogue to improve the
situation?

China's domestic constraints

At a first glance, it seems like an enormous miscalculation on the part of
the Chinese government not to intervene more to tackle this issue, even if
they do not have the capacity to reach every Chinese company operating
around the world. However, perhaps the answer to these questions lies not
so much in bad faith as in the labour conditions in China itself, where
the millions of workers who have carried out the ŒChinese miracle¹ are
still being exploited.

Liu Guijin, the Chinese government¹s special representative for Africa,
admits that these problems exist and explains that Beijing ­ after
refusing to share responsibility for supervising these companies with its
medias or civil society ­ is in over its head. ŒOur government is making
efforts to educate the Chinese companies to properly carry out their
corporate social responsibilities, to follow fixed rules or regulations
and to observe local lawsŠ But there are so many companies scattered
everywhere in Africa, and we cannot guarantee that 100 per cent of them
are performing perfectly well.¹A glance at China¹s domestic situation is
enough to see that, in general, these Chinese companies are simply
reproducing abroad the same labour pattern
<http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/5736-China-s-elitist-a
pproach-to-overseas-investments> that has been in force in china for the
last thirty years, ever since Deng Xiaoping outlined China¹s journey to
wealth along the path of Œsocialism with Chinese characteristics¹. One of
the driving forces behind the growth of this new model was to put the
endless human resources of the planet¹s most populated country to the
service of the Œfactory of the world¹, a tactic that included paying
meagre salaries to the workforce.

It was a wining formula: low labour costs made Chinese products very
competitive, contributing significantly to the fabulous increase in
China¹s GDP over the last three decades, an invaluable factor in the
country¹s development. As China became rich, pure economic logic dictates
that the salaries of the workers who generated a significant part of that
wealth should also have risen in proportion to their productivity.
However, this explosion of wealth hasn't filtered down through an increase
in salaries.

Here, then, is the source of the abuse; here lies the evidence that a
significant part of the Chinese model¹s success rests on the shoulders and
tireless work of the Chinese people. Now that China is at the height of
its expansion across the world, the hardships of red capitalism have
become visible in Africa and other places; however, they have already been
around in China for some time. Three decades later, the unscrupulous
exploitation of China¹s working classes is continuing and even spilling
out beyond the country¹s own borders.Juan Pablo Cardenal and Heriberto
Araujo are authors of ŒChina¹s Silent Army: The pioneers, traders, fixers
and workers who are remaking the world in Beijing¹s image¹. It is being
published in Chinese in 2013 in Taiwan.