LETTER OF THE DAY - China: an emerging threat

THE EDITOR, Sir:

According to Goldman Sachs' review of the world's emerging economies, by 2050, China will be the world's greatest economic power. The colossal economic rise of China as a world power will pose a threat to democracy, human rights and world peace.

China's authoritarian regime could inspire non-democratic governments in the East to adopt the capitalist model without becoming a democracy.

According to political scientist Guanguang Wu, with economic privileges in the OECD countries, "China's success in economic development will negatively influence civil liberties and democracies in the West because transnational corporations are vulnerable to Beijing's political pressure." As a result, "Western countries are prepared to drop human rights issues from their agenda."

Strange bedfellows

In addition, the OECD democracies have embraced a policy which European Union analysts call the "unconditional engagement". The Western powers saw the need to appease China because of its status as an economic powerhouse. Some even eroded their democratic commitments in order to have a favourable relationship with China.

However, analysts have described this policy as a complete failure because China is still an author-itarian state. Furthermore, China's impact on human rights internationally cannot be overstated.

China's influence in Africa is also quite startling. In order to pursue economic gains and national interests, Chinese investors have engaged in unscrupulous business practices. According to Richard Dowden, African editor for The Economist, "The Chinese are willing to provide African leaders with infrastructure and financial capital, as long as they allow China to exploit the continent."

In other words, China is not expected to assess the environmental impact of its industrial activities or obey labour laws. China's failure to obey the latter has resulted in the exploitation of thousands of African labourers in places like the Congo.

The territory's non-interference stance also does more harm than good. For example, in 2007, a Chinese-funded project to construct a dam on the Nile in exchange for oil concessions caused the Sudanese government to evict several individuals from their properties. The Chinese simply indicated that it was not their business.

In addition, in 2008, China provided the government of Sudan with ammunition, notwithstanding the crisis in Darfur. China poses a very serious threat to world peace. China willingly facilitated Iran and North Korea's trading of nuclear material, thus contributing to the aggressive posturing of these territories against their regional neighbours.

China's emergence as an economic powerhouse will threaten America's hegemonic status in world politics, and this will have a debilitating effect on democracy and human rights.

LIPTON MATTHEWS

lo_matthews@yahoo.com