Fri, Aug 05, 2005 page8

• A monumental irony

  • By Philip Wallbridge
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  I write in response to Lee Long-hwa's letters regarding the CNOOC bid for Unocal and China's "LCD economics" (Letters, July 23 and July 25, page 8).

  These letters have been written from an extreme pro-US, anti-Chinese point of view. The truth is rarely pure and certainly never simple, and in international affairs all countries act primarily out of economic self-interest.

  Yes, Chinese workers are exploited, paid appalling wages and have few rights in comparison to developed countries, but this needs to be placed in the context of how the global economy works.

  Many countries, including Taiwan, have been through a similar process of mass production for Western markets that involved low wages, limited rights and less-than-desirable working conditions. The quality of Taiwanese products was the butt of many jokes around the world, but without this I doubt Taiwan would have achieved the economic miracle it so impressively and deservedly has.

  Indeed, why are so many countries forced to do this to make enough money to achieve even a fraction of the quality of life most of us in the West take for granted?

  The irony of Lee's comments that the comfort of those in Beijing and Shanghai is built on the torment of the millions of China's working poor is monumental.

  The "fundamentally improving living conditions in the developed world" themselves are enjoyed at the expense of billions living in poverty around the world.

  While Lee complains that China is not playing fair, and many US factory workers will lose their jobs, has he ever thought of the West's current control and manipulation of global trade, itself established through decades of exploitation using deplorable methods such as slavery, that has kept places like Africa in crushing poverty?

  When exporting to rich countries, poor countries pay tariffs four times higher than those paid by producers in other rich countries.

  Conversely, the US government pays its farmers US$1 billion a year to over-produce rice and dump the surplus at rock-bottom prices in poor countries. This isn't just about a few jobs in Texas; it's millions of people's lives that are at stake.

  Despite the visible effects and almost unanimous agreement among the scientific community that global warming is now a reality and poses arguably the single biggest threat to the world, US President George W. Bush refused to sign up to the Kyoto protocol on the basis that it would be bad for the US economy -- which is responsible for 25 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

  Lee lambasts the French for not standing up against Beijing, but the US has just signed a pact with China on an "alternative" to Kyoto which lets them set their goals for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions individually -- with no enforcement mechanism.

  This legitimizes the Chinese government as a trusted partner in issues of such importance, a sacrifice the US is manifestly prepared to make to counter growing criticism on global warming by having the world's most populous nation on its side, but without it actually committing to anything.

  There are two sides to every story. But more importantly, if this world desperately needs a united global voice as Lee calls for, it is not for the sake of perpetuating living standards in developed countries such as the US, but for eradicating mass poverty and tackling global warming.

  We are all responsible for the consumer choices we make and for the epidemic of blissful ignorance in the West over the stranglehold that our politicians have over the poor to keep us comparatively rich. Buy a Hummer SUV, melt another ice cap.

  Enjoy the quality of life you deserve from your honest, hard work while thousands in Niger starve tonight. Think about it.

  Philip Wallbridge
  

  United Kingdom

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