Posted by David Naughton on January 06, 1997 at 21:06:13:
In Reply to: Re: China posted by Amanda on January 06, 1997 at 07:50:56:
:
: : Is there any truth to this idea that China has something up its
: : sleeve? That it now has an impressive collection of high-tech
: : weaponry that could compete with the US and that it has plans to
: : increase it's power in the world by some secret technology or
: : advancement. I've heard it has serious disputes with the US. I
: : also know that in Canada, Jean Cretian is working hard to further
: : the ties with China and I'm wondering what the big deal is about?
: : Are there reasons why it has become so important and is being
: : discussed more in the media? I know little about China save that
: : it is a communist country with the largest population and will be
: : taking back Hong Kong in July. Is there any validation why some
: : seem to fear the possible future actions of this country?
: Great article on China in the NY Times - Sunday - Week in Review
: section - cleared a few matters up for me. It appears that China has
: been spending a bit of money in the US similar to what Japan did in
: the 80s but not with as much success. It doesn't seem like there is
: anything to be worried about here.
On the contrary, there are some reasons to be concerned about China.
I haven't heard anything about the high-tech weaponry you speak of,
but I have heard that the US is turning a blind eye to China's nuclear
weapons proliferation, among other things. The reasons for this, as
is so often the case with foreign policy, are economic. Normally US
foreign policy places restrictions on trade with any nation testing or
manufacturing nuclear weapons. However, China has been awarded a
"Most-favored Nation" trade status by the US despite that fact that it
has been doing just that. China also has an abysmal record on human
rights. As is well known, it makes political prisoners of anyone who
makes any serious criticism of its government, and these political
prisoners are often beaten and tortured.
The reason that China has not been subjected to the usual restricions
is that the huge profits of many US companies rely on the exploitation
of China's huge pool of cheap labor. I suspect that this is also the
reason why Jean Cretian wants to strengthen ties with China. According
to a recent edition of "Dateline NBC", about 80-90% of the toys sold
in the US are made in China, as well as many other products. These US
companies, not wanting to lose their profits, put enormous pressure on
the US government to allow unrestricted trade with China, despite its
human rights abuses. Some of these abuses are directly supported by
US business, as many of the Chinese laborers who maunfacture their
products are subjected to sweatshop conditions. These
laborers often work 12+ hour shifts and are beaten if they
fall asleep on the job. In addition, factory doors are usually locked
so no one can sneak out. This has resulted in the deaths of hundreds
of Chinese workers in the last couple of years when fires have
destroyed some of the factories. The workers, being locked in,
couldn't get out.
The US government has cited some recent Chinese reforms as the reason
why China has been given the "Most-favored Nation" status, but these
reforms have been purely economic, moving many of its coastal
manufacturing towns toward a capitalist economy. To my knowledge,
little or no pressure has been put on China by the Clinton
administration regarding human rights or nuclear weapons. In fact,
one of the biggest areas of concern about China voiced by the US
government and media has been over intellectual property rights, such
as the pirating of US compact discs by small-time Chinese criminals.