C-FAR #323 May, 1998
It has often been said that foreign aid is the
mechanism of transferring money from the working and middle class taxpayers
of the developed world to the rich of the Third World. India, which has
a huge armed forces and is developing nuclear weapons, in 1995/96 still
got $119.69-million in aid from the Canadian taxpayers. (Canadian International
Development Agency Statistical Report on Official Development Assistance,
1995/96, p.39) Certainly, there is poverty in India, but so too is there
much wealth. The Indian political process should deal with poverty. Canadian
aid simply allows rich Indians to continue their lavish ways and the Indian
military to continue spending. Meanwhile, dotty Westerners feel compelled
to pony up aid in a hopeless effort to cure the poverty Indian politicians
refuse to address. Our aid allows India's rich to largely avoid their own
problems. It represents a transfer that subsidises their extravagant lifestyles,
as pictured in the following. An article headlined "Black Label and
colour TV mark Punjabi culture" explains the life of a new breed of
rich Indians: "Delhi traders can barely keep up with this year's demand
for expensive air conditioners, proof of a boom in the number of Puppies
- Prosperous Urban Punjabis. They define, some would say malign, the culture
of much of northern India with an attitude to money that forgives anything,
and especially corruption. Sardarjis, or Sikhs, who make up the majority
of the Puppies were, until a generation or so ago, the most respected because
of their high ethical standards and decent attitude towards women. Perhaps
the decade-long separatist Khalistan movement in Punjab changed many, but
Puppies - the most visible of young Punjabis - are held in ridicule. Brand-name
watches, sunglasses and other trinkets are targeted mostly at Puppies,
who strut about Delhi with Black Label Scotch on their breath and gold
chains on their chests. . Puppies own houses of excruciating taste, especially
indoors, where they are filled with plastic chandeliers
Puppies smoke imported cigarettes and no longer
wear the once ubiquitous safari suit with open sandals (except in sweaty
Bombay, its last big stronghold) in favour of Western-style jackets with
padded shoulders to accentuate physical stature. Many do not need to do
that: the fat Puppy is so commonplace he is the butt of what are essentially
racist jokes. Other jokes are less mean, to wit: what is the ideal Puppy
marriage? Marrying the latest television set and taking the bride as dowry.
The ferocious drinking habits of Punjabis - essentially Sikhs - are the
stuff of legend. Black Label is a badge of belonging to the rich, even
though much of it is adulterated by bootleggers who have ingenious schemes
for filling used bottles. Many women use the word Punjabi as a generic
term for lascivious men. Puppies do nothing to improve their image: Puppy
businessmen are to be found every day on the Shatabdi Express between Punjab
and Delhi poring over pictures in Stardust magazine, which reports on Bollywood
stars in various states of undress. Puppies often boast a swollen belly
- known as a rice belly. There is nothing so unsubtle as Punjabi food,
which comes hot and heavy and sits like lead for 24 hours. Some Puppies
are Marwaris, the Hindu caste that owns much of the country, from village
shops to multinationals.
They tend to be more sophisticated because their
money is old and decently earned. They are thus not full-pedigree Puppies:
that mantle properly belongs to the nouveaux riches who have climbed through
the ranks since economic reforms were introduced seven years ago. Delhi
cocktail chatter is known to have been halted momentarily by the squeal
of a young wife who called across the room to "DJ" - an abbreviation
for Darlingji ("ji" being the Hindi diminutive for respect.)
This is classic Puppy social crassness. Puppies are frequently involved
in real estate in Delhi, which has enriched many of them, although prices
have lately crashed because so many foreign companies have decided there
is no money to be made and are quitting. Puppy landlords -- like most Delhi
landlords -- want the bulk of their rent in cash. They come for their money
in cars with windows so dark they are all but opaque, rather in the manner
of Puppy business transactions. (London Times, April 16, 1998)
Israel Sours on "Diversity"
Mainline organized Jewish groups in Canada, such
as the Canadian Jewish Congress, are always regaling us with the alleged
benefits of "diversity" and the marvels of continued massive
non-traditional immigration. Apparently, however, many of their co-religionists
in Israel are somewhat underwhelmed by the "diversity" caused
by some of their foreign workers. In an article entitled "Thai's arrest
for murder sparks debate over foreign labour", the South China Morning
Post (April 25, 1998) reported: " The arrest of a 29-year-old Thai
farm worker for the murder of an Israeli woman on a kibbutz has sparked
heated exchanges about the role of foreign workers in Israel. Korbua Sumbat
worked at the Naan kibbutz, where Yamit Regev, 23, was raped and murdered
two weeks ago as she walked home from a bar at night. He denies killing
her, although police say he confessed. Labour Minister Eli Ishai reacted
by saying foreign workers had "a deadly effect" on Israeli society.
"I'm acting to deport as many illegal workers as possible," he
said. About half of the 250,000 foreign workers in Israel are working illegally.
Most Israelis regard Thai workers as industrious, reliable and loyal. The
only wrongdoing they have been accused of until now is trapping domestic
dogs and cats for food."
Red China Sets the Standard to Avoid
China's "economic miracle" never quite
trickled down to the 65 millions who survive on incomes below the official
poverty line of $64 a year; nor have Canadian trade officials inquired
closely when everything from plastic shoes to computer components can be
gotten on the cheap. If the wealth of nations is measured exclusively by
the ability to undercut the competition, then China's network of forced-labour
gulags known as Lao Gai, should have much to recommend it. Canadian politicians
- take note: when policy produces malcontents, a really sharp regime can
parlay punishment into serious dough! Under the Chinese system of justice,
"local communist parties in China have the power to send anyone in
their area to prison for up to three years if they so choose purely by
making an administrative decision - the sentence can subsequently be extended
indefinitely. Another category, Forced Job Placement ... [or jiuye] are
prisoners who have completed their jail terms in full, but must continue
to carry out forced labour as though they were still serving a sentence.
They are usually paid a wage ... this cheap 'non-convict' labour is now
being marketed to potential Western investors [probably tarted-up as 'ethical'
investments]. ... The number of prisoners in the laogaidui excluding jiuye
prisoners is at least 10 million and probably nearer 15 million. The ISHR
believes it is safe to assume a total laogaidui population of 20 million
prisoners. ... To conceal the origin of forced labour produce, each camp
has 2 names - a prison name and a production unit name." (Forced labour
system in the People's Republic of China, Jan Dobinson and Glenn Calderwood
and the International Society for Human Rights) Ironically, China itself
may be added to the long list of countries losing out to its ruthlessly
efficient slave-labour system. "Han Dongfang, the Chinese trade-union
activist, said yesterday that China was 'a time bomb about to explode at
any minute' under the pressure of its vast unemployment problem. Mr. Han
... estimates that there are at least 56 million workers about to be laid
off or already unemployed in the 40 per cent of state-run industries that
have failed. A further 100 million workers from rural areas are said to
be travelling around the country looking for work." (London Times,
April 6, 1998)
Our own politicians have insisted on hitching
our economic wagon to the Red Star, even when it was obvious that the PRC
economy has experienced a gradual but steady decline since 1992. Current
GDP is just half what it was in those heady days. A Hong Kong analyst notes,
"'That's worse than Southeast Asian countries.' ... China's chief
economist at the State Statistical Bureau, Qiu Xiaohua, [confirms that
PRC posted its 16th consecutive quarterly economic downturn during the
first three months of 1998]. Industrial losses rose nearly 22 per cent
during the first two months of 1998 over the same period last year. Even
more stunning was an 82.8 per cent plunge in profits during January and
February. 'The deterioration in the economic efficiency of industrial firms
is even worse than we had expected,' Mr. Qui acknowledged." (Globe
and Mail, April 25, 1998) Not all that long ago "30 million, perhaps
40 million Chinese died as a result of Mao's Great Leap Forward, his campaign
to overtake the per capita industrial production of Britain within 15 years.
... Mao refused to believe reports of famine, at one point joking that
'even if there's a collapse, that'll be all right. The worst that will
happen is that the whole world will get a big laugh out of it.'" (Time,
March 3, 1997) At that time there WAS nowhere to emigrate.
"Whenever Communist leaders get worried
about the morale of the people, they breath new life into Lei Feng. ...
[he] is the purest example of the 'model worker'. ... Lei Feng was beatified
by Mao Zedong, who in 1963 coined the phrase, 'Learn From Comrade Lei Feng.'
This was not long after the economic calamities of the Great Leap Forward.
... Every Chinese knows Lei Feng's story: how he was orphaned and raised
by the Communist Party, how word spread of his kindness even before his
death [by telephone pole] ... The heaviest promotions of Lei Feng have
come in waves. One big push came after [Tiananmen]1989. ... But in recent
months, as the depth of the economic threat has become apparent, spurring
fears of unrest, the appeals to Lei Feng have become more urgent."
(New York Times, April 16, 1998) Industrial inefficiency may be the least
of China's problems: despite ambitious plans for nuclear and hydro-electric
development and pampering at the Kyoto Conference, "China's primary
energy supply will be 68 per cent coal and 25 per cent oil in 2025. ...
By 2025, China's annual CO2 emissions alone will be 3.2 billion tons carbon,
compared to current world CO2 emissions of 6.5 billion tons." (Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, 3/19/98) "
China has six of the 10 most polluted cities
in the world. ... Major cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Chongqing have
spent almost nothing on treatment of sewage or water purification ... On
May 7 the South China Morning Post reported that as a result of villagers
dumping sewage and rubbish, 500 tonnes of dead fish covered Dong Hu Lake
in Hubei province, turning the surface silvery white. Pollution monitors
said the lake had a nitrogen oxide level five times the national standard.
The most famous rivers - including the Yangtze and Yellow River - are completely
polluted. Such has been the environmental mismanagement that the Yellow
River barely exists for half the year - its bed is dry for 800 kilometers.
... China hopes to raise vast sums abroad to pay for a grand clean-up.
... Until now, China has only bought Western technology if the cost was
borne by aid donors or international institutions like the World Bank."
(South China Morning Post, April 18, 1998) Astute readers already know
that a disproportionate number of 'trade deals' with China are spiked with
massive aid packages (Thus, 'free enterprise' is really just more 'government
business' - in China, and increasingly, here). While Canada undertakes
to rebuild China's dilapidated system of dams, China's priorities are infinitely
sexier: "Beijing has laid down ambitious plans for technological development,
especially in the military and industrial fields. Foremost among the mainland's
goals is to put a man in space before the end of the next decade."
(South China Morning Post, April 1, 1998) "A new CIA report says that
13 of China's 18 long-range strategic missiles have single nuclear warheads
aimed at U.S. cities. ... CSS-4 missiles aimed at the United States ...
indicate that China views the United States as its major strategic adversary.
... The CIA report also undercuts President Clinton's often-used phrase
that there are no nuclear missiles targeted at the United States. In boasting
of his administration's security record, he said in one speech in October
1996: 'There is not a single, solitary nuclear missile pointed at an American
child tonight. Not one. Not one. Not a single one.'" (Washington Times,
May 1, 1998)
Mr. Clinton should zip-up and find time to read
history. China's legacy in Southeast Asia is a catalogue of duplicity,
"China armed and trained rebel groups in almost every Southeast Asian
country including Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Burma and Cambodia,
even when it encouraged warm relations with their official governments.
... Even though commerce has replaced ideology as the basis for Beijing's
policies towards its neighbours, it has continued to protect the old followers
of Mao. Above all it has protected the Khmer Rouge. ... [When Pol Pot visited
Beijing at the height of the killing, 21 years ago, he was lauded by the
People's Daily] It ran special columns describing flourishing scenes everywhere'.
China did not stop supplying arms until at least 1991. There is also evidence
that China gave top Khmer Rouge leaders Chinese citizenship and passports.
China has also made it clear that it will oppose any attempt by Washington
to put the remaining Khmer Rouge leadership on trial for crimes against
humanity. ... China supported and trained the Burmese Communist Party for
decades, even though Burma was the first Asian nation to recognize the
Chinese communist government in 1949. ... An ethnic rebellion in 1989 ended
the Burmese Communist Party's dominance and nine of the armed groups formerly
under the communists, including the Wa, have since tried to negotiate deals
with Rangoon. Many of the rebel groups have since turned to growing opium
while China has given political asylum to 14 leading members of the former
politburo." (South China Morning Post, April 23, 1998) Now, "China
is gaining access to high technology, [thanks in no small part to Clinton's
machinations.]
The military, too, is a growth industry. Some
analysts estimate China's defense budget is as high as $30 billion and
may be climbing ten per cent a year. The People's Liberation Army is the
largest in the world; it boasts the third-largest nuclear arsenal in terms
of delivery vehicles. ... If American policies are successful, ten years
from now a large, well-equipped American-led force will be in place on
the central plains of Europe, fully capable of deterring Russia. Meanwhile,
American power and influence will have steadily shrunk in East Asia [despite
China's] military buildup, increasing chauvinism, and aggressively one-sided
economic policies." (New York Times, March 26, 1997)
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