Between being America’s creditor to supplying Africa with railways and roads, China has been saving the world a lot lately. Of course that depends on your definition of “saving the world.” Europe has one definition: a bailout for Europe. And China has the money. By Friday afternoon, after the EU announced its plans, China began edging toward a plan that could free up a 100 billion dollars to help prop up Europe. But, as Evan Osnos reports in his Letter From China blog, the idea faced a pretty enormous source of opposition: its own citizens. Provided they can be heard, and increasingly they can."Why do we, once again, have to give what we've earned—through blood, sweat, tears—to those rich and lazy Europeans?" someone named Songzhe wrote on Weibo, the Chinese Twitter, echoing the prevailing sentiment. Others suggested a specific quid pro quo. "You want support? Fine, on these conditions," commentator BillyBW wrote.1) Recognize China's market-economy status right away
2) Never again mention Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and the South China Sea;
3) Allow China to purchase high technology in the fields of weaponry, aviation, information technology, pharmaceuticals, environmental protection, industrial manufacturing, etc. President Hu should learn from Kim Jong-il: Don't hand over a dime without asking for the world in return.The Chinese media added some more now-old demands to the list, as Evan writes:“End criticism of China's foreign exchange policy”
“Increase China's voting quota at the I.M.F.”
“Make it easier for Chinese companies to make direct investments on the continent.”Thing about globalization is, China doesn’t want to see Europe fail either. A worldwide mechanism for stability also produces worldwide catch-22s.The bigger problem, says Soni Kapoor, managing director of the consulting firm Re-define, at NPR, is the apparent inability of Europe, with its shared culture and values, to sit down and address its problems, and what that bodes for cooperation on more global problems. “If this is the best that they can do, what hope is there of sitting the Indians and China and the United States and the Europes of the world around the table and solving some of the major economic and environmental problems that confront us globally?” he says. “I think it’s a very scary prospect that keeps me up at night.”Happy Halloween!
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2) Never again mention Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and the South China Sea;
3) Allow China to purchase high technology in the fields of weaponry, aviation, information technology, pharmaceuticals, environmental protection, industrial manufacturing, etc. President Hu should learn from Kim Jong-il: Don't hand over a dime without asking for the world in return.The Chinese media added some more now-old demands to the list, as Evan writes:“End criticism of China's foreign exchange policy”
“Increase China's voting quota at the I.M.F.”
“Make it easier for Chinese companies to make direct investments on the continent.”Thing about globalization is, China doesn’t want to see Europe fail either. A worldwide mechanism for stability also produces worldwide catch-22s.The bigger problem, says Soni Kapoor, managing director of the consulting firm Re-define, at NPR, is the apparent inability of Europe, with its shared culture and values, to sit down and address its problems, and what that bodes for cooperation on more global problems. “If this is the best that they can do, what hope is there of sitting the Indians and China and the United States and the Europes of the world around the table and solving some of the major economic and environmental problems that confront us globally?” he says. “I think it’s a very scary prospect that keeps me up at night.”Happy Halloween!