I'm surprised nobody's brought up the US real estate market parallels. Arguably China is already in a position to exert significant influence over multiple markets in the US with nothing more than threats - real or implied - of enacting currency controls. Entire markets - if not the entire RE market in the US - would collapse overnight if China decided to prohibit the free flow of money into US properties.
What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence
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Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence
#32I assume another close contender is the Nay Pyi Taw airport in Myanmar. https://www.instagram.com/p/BXvqis0htxH/?taken-at=277450644 https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/277450644/naypyi... The city was built as a showcase capital for Myanmar's military government, and has crazy sights like a 20 lane highway (with almost no cars): https://www.go-myanmar.com/sites/go-myanmar.com/files/upload... More pictures: ht…
> crazy sights like a 20 lane highway (with almost no cars)
When Top Gear went they stopped to have a game of football in the middle of the road https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uwTnP8ioiU
Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence
#33As the United States beats a haphazard retreat from the world — nixing trade agreements, eschewing diplomacy, antagonizing allies — China marches on with its unabashedly ambitious global-expansion program known as One Belt, One Road. This constant MSM need to connect everything on earth back to Trump is getting so fucking tedious. Construction of the airport this article concerns was finished (edit: begun) in 2009. I…
Construction of the airport this article concerns was finished in 2009
2009 was when the civil war finished. The airport was completed in 2013[1] (although I don't think that is material to your point).
The issue isn't specifically the construction of the airport, it was more the leasing of the Hambantota port to China. That occurred in July this year and didn't seem to have any comment form the US State Department (as far as I can see) despite the US "Pivot to Asia" and the aggressive Chinese building in the South China Sea.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattala_Rajapaksa_Internationa...
[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2017/07/27/china-bu...
Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence
#34One thing worth noting is that, with a theoretical max capacity on only 1 million, this airport would actually be pretty tiny by world standards. (The largest do >100m, and even Colombo Airport pulls in nearly 10m.)
By comparison, another famous white elephant airport, Ciudad Real in Spain, was built for 10m and currently serves precisely zero.
Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence
#35I'm surprised nobody's brought up the US real estate market parallels. Arguably China is already in a position to exert significant influence over multiple markets in the US with nothing more than threats - real or implied - of enacting currency controls. Entire markets - if not the entire RE market in the US - would collapse overnight if China decided to prohibit the free flow of money into US properties.
They already do so.
Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence
#36The slippery slope towards empire for the east India company didn't start by protecting dams and dredging or performing economic activities. It began by superior ammunition and military services that they provided to the various kings and nawabs who were warring with each other.taking sides, and extracting political power in return. Equity ownership means nothing if it's a business that has zero market value. Politic…
Chinese equity stake in the airport and port will likely result in significant Chinese operation of those ports.
And surely, that's got to have India thinking a little bit - it means that the PLAAF/PLAN now have a potential forward operating base literally in their backyard.
And if China can continue to assert leverage on Sri Lanka, then they might even be able to forward base onto Sri Lanka itself without official argument from Sri Lanka.
I mean, I doubt it, but it seems like a viable play.
Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence
#37The slippery slope towards empire for the east India company didn't start by protecting dams and dredging or performing economic activities. It began by superior ammunition and military services that they provided to the various kings and nawabs who were warring with each other.taking sides, and extracting political power in return. Equity ownership means nothing if it's a business that has zero market value. Politic…
I wouldn't call it a slippery slope so much as events precipitating the situation. The revolt in 1857 led to the dissolution of the East India Company and a formal takeover of India by the British government [1]. The British Raj lasted almost a century and could have lasted longer had the British Army and economy not been so weakened by WWII.
It will be interesting to see what happens should a country attempt to seize Chinese assets en masse. The PRC is not known for its lack of ability in the Great Game. We are still decades away from the circumstances that allowed for decolonisation movements in the mid-20th century to be successful.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_India_Act_1858
Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence
#38I'm surprised nobody's brought up the US real estate market parallels. Arguably China is already in a position to exert significant influence over multiple markets in the US with nothing more than threats - real or implied - of enacting currency controls. Entire markets - if not the entire RE market in the US - would collapse overnight if China decided to prohibit the free flow of money into US properties.
Arguably the main focus Chinese economic policy over the past year or so has been to close loopholes in the existing (strict) controls to prevent capital from leaving the country. The RE markets aren't collapsing.
Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence
#39A number of Chinese businesses are setting up 100%-Chinese factory compounds overseas. These compounds are located in a foreign country, but they are fully financed by Chinese, built by Chinese, employ only Chinese, have accommodation for the Chinese employees, have a completely sustaining internal economy where employees can buy food and entertainment and send mail, posts, banking, remittance, insurance, through Chi…
China does a similar thing with agriculture. Huge plots of land in Australia and New Zealand are controlled by Chinese farming companies and staffed by Chinese. All the food they produce goes back to China.
It is not true that they mainly (or even significantly) employ chinese on Australian Farms - these farms are generally managed by the previous owners or managers and staffed by Australians, with australian Agronomists. In actual fact, very little changes on a day to day basis, except there is more funds available for infrastructure and capital goods purchase (and property values are driven up).
Which, when you think about it, makes the best managerial sense - What the hell is a chinese person going to do coming to australia and farming - they don't know the conditions, they don't know the land - that's a quick way to destroy all the value they hope to create. Local know-how is essential in agriculture. + they wouldn't be able to get enough on 457's to come in and run it even if they wanted to import all their workers.
Source: Australian, from a farm, neighbouring farms have been purchased by chinese buyers
Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence
#40I'm surprised nobody's brought up the US real estate market parallels. Arguably China is already in a position to exert significant influence over multiple markets in the US with nothing more than threats - real or implied - of enacting currency controls. Entire markets - if not the entire RE market in the US - would collapse overnight if China decided to prohibit the free flow of money into US properties.
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