Saturday, February 03, 2007

China bashing

Moving into and becoming a major factor in a country is not an easy task. As I've written previously, China is moving into Africa, primarily to obtain natural resources. Zambia is proving to be an especially difficult country for China. In the most recent presidential election the primary opponent campaigned on an anti-China platform, much as happens in some Latin American countries with regard to the U.S. He did well enough so that his party now has some degree of control in Zambia.

The anti-China movement was fueled by an explosion in a Chinese-controlled mine which killed a couple of dozen of the locals. Plus, the Chinese disbanded the union at the mine and paid people less than the country's minimum wage of $67 per month. Such practices do not win 'hearts and minds'. China may not care about 'hearts and minds' today, but it will care tomorrow.

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