A couple of weeks ago I ruminated in this column ("Proton, Pyongyang and a saga of Asian diplomacy," March 26, page 19) on the prospect that Proton, the Malaysian automaker, might someday build a plant in North Korea. As you may recall, the North Koreans were then taking a swing through Southeast Asia, Europe and Russia in search of investments and aid. Economic cooperation, not geopolitical confrontation, is the motor of our age -- that was the theme.
Now we can consider this theme writ even larger. On March 28, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji (
There's a word for this news, and anyone with a sense of history will know it: The word is "wow." The thought of Zhu nibbling rice crackers and dried seaweed with India's vigorously Indian foreign minister as the two gaze down at the Himalayas suggests something profound -- not just in a 50-year relationship that has often been as stony as those mountains, but in the world.
The day after Zhu's announcement, Singh reported during a state visit to Beijing on "a very productive and comprehensive round of meetings and talks." It's now clear that both nations are determined to advance beyond yesterday's enmities on both the trade and diplomatic sides.
Much needed. Border disputes between China and India aren't merely worn out, they're museum pieces. Trade between India and China, which together account for almost half the planet's population, now comes to US$3.5 billion a year -- a pathetic figure. It is, by comparison, a 10th of China's trade with South Korea.
No, you didn't read much about any of this in the Western newspapers, and you saw nothing in the American press. That's because we're so absorbed in ourselves and in our utterly unsustainable unilateralism that we can't see straight -- we can't see the world as it is coming to turn on new sets of poles.
China Eastern is a story in its own right. The Shanghai-based carrier reported on April 9 that net income in 2001 tripled, to 541.7 million yuan (US$65 million), on an 8 percent gain in total sales, to 12.2 billion yuan. The stock closed in Hong Kong Wednesday at HK$1.14, up a cent on the session -- and more than 20 percent so far this year.
This is a company on the move, powered not least by the money Beijing is pouring into it. A tax rebate of 306 million yuan accounts for much of last year's profit. The Bank of China just loaned it US$200 million to expand its fleet -- this atop an 18 billion yuan line of credit from another state bank. With 72 planes in the air now, it wants 26 more -- Airbuses and Boeings -- by 2005. A formal agreement with Airbus Industrie is set to be signed next week.
China Eastern is also negotiating a raft of joint ventures, takeovers and purchasing agreements with smaller domestic carriers. It will eventually merge with two other airlines as part of Beijing's plan to consolidate China's air industry into three large, internationally competitive groups. It is, let us conclude, among Beijing's favored vehicles -- and it is evidently intended to carry more than passengers and freight.
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