Live data from Hacker News

What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence

nytimes.com

51–60 of 149 posts

Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence

#51
post #10

A 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.

You want to cite a source on that?

Somewhere between 5-10% of NZ farmland and forestry is owned by foreign interests. That's not just China, but all other countries, of which Australia is a large investor in NZ. A large amount of this land is owned by super funds.

Fonterra has an 84% market share in the dairy sector, Fonterra is a collective, owned by the individual farms.

Now, the Chinese are building milk powder factories exclusively for export to China, and owned by Chinese companies. But they are employing local people, and constructed by locals, they aren't staffed by Chinese, because the hassle of trying to get a factory worth of workers immigrating to New Zealand isn't worth it, when you could just as easily pay locals. At the end of the day, you can't pay Chinese workers less, because there is a minimum wage.

The suppliers to these factories are independent dairy farmers, there's little vertical integration here.

In the end, these plants grow the economy and create jobs. Sure, in an ideal world, it would all be NZ owned, but nobody wants to cough up the cash here to build more plants.

New Zealand is a small country, it has always relied heavily on foreign investment and ownership, and always will. The population and economy is too small to do it any other way, NZ has to turn to globalism in order to have a healthy, functioning economy.

Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence

#52
This reminds me of an airport in Radom (Poland). It was built few years ago, because it was an opportunity to get some money from EU (and for local politicians to get some bribes :) ).

For the first two years airport was unused - the only airline that signet contract got bankrupt. Currently it has another airline operating and serves 10k passengers per year.

That's what happens when EU starts giving away money.

Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence

#53
Imagine a fully centralized country like china ruled by someone impulsive. Centralization always relies on a well meaning, benefactorial power center- if that goes sour- and it always does, there is no plan for deprecation or recovery.

PS: How can land investment in africa make sense? They are often not enforceable and do not outlast populist government turnover?

Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence

#54

I 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…

It's interesting to contrast that with the story of Ordos Kangbashi, Inner Mongolia: https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2017/06/30/ordos-ch... I'd first heard of that a couple years ago and shook my head at all the wasteful misallocation of capital. Ordos recently appeared in the news again, but instead of an empty ghost town - it's apparently a thriving metropolis, center of the worldwide Bitcoin mining indust…

> Capitalism is remarkably effective at redirecting misallocated capital into productive uses. The original builders go bankrupt, and it sucks for them, but usually an enterprising firm picks up the assets at fire-sale prices and does something interesting with them.

It works great in theory and even in practice to a degree, but there are endless chronically impoverished neighborhoods, cities, regions, and nations where it didn't work out that way. The wealthy locales tend to stay wealthy, and the poor ones poor.

Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You want to cite a source on that? Somewhere between 5-10% of NZ farmland and forestry is owned by foreign interests. That's not just China, but all other countries, of which Australia is a large investor in NZ. A large amount of this land is owned by super funds. Fonterra has an 84% market share in the dairy sector, Fonterra is a collective, owned by the individual farms. Now, the Chinese are building milk powder fa…

Well you could just pay them illegally under the table. I'm ignorant about NZs economy, and you have good points/questions but I felt that it needed to be said.

In the US we have huge migrant groups that are responsible for a large amount of the harvesting in this country, and most are paid well under minimum wage. Not saying it's right... just how it is.

Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence

#56
post #41
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eschewing diplomacy and antagonizing allies started with Bush after 9/11 and the build up for the Iraq war.

Bush II is still easily the worst president of the last 100 years, at least. Trump has yet to come close to the Iraq disaster, though he has at least 3 more years so who knows. Obama wasn't bad but his problem was that he governed as if the country were not in decline. He was a prosperous times president when we needed a turnaround artist.

We're veering off topic, but you forgot the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, torture, and mass surveillance.

Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence

#57
> China promotes itself as a new, gentler kind of power, but it’s worth remembering that dredging deepwater ports and laying down railroad ties to secure new trade routes — and then having to defend them from angry locals — was precisely how Britain started down the slippery slope to empire.

China should be deterred by the prospect of following the footsteps of the most powerful empire in history?

Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence

#58
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

to the dead post: Australia has always relied on capital inflows for infrastructure and capital improvement. in the 30s-50s it was from the UK, the 60s and 70s from the US (especially with the growth and introduction of Cotton in Australia), the 80-90s from Japan, and now China. All those waves of investment have come with fears of 'takeovers' and all of them have passed. maybe the current one will go for longer, who knows. Fear of foreign ownership are a little overhyped; they can't take the land with them and they must be good stewards of it in order to earn good returns. And they must employ locals in order to do that too - which has brought revitalisation to some regional areas that have gone through downturns.

Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence

#59
post #25

I 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…

Mirabel airport [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montr%C3%A9al%E2%80%93Mirabel_... ] probably was a contender. The passenger terminals were eventually torn down recently, but cargo flights continue to use it. EDIT: "By surface area, it was the largest airport in the world that had ever been envisioned, with a planned area of 39,660 hectares (396.6 km2; 98,000 acres)"

Gaza International.[1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasser_Arafat_International_Ai...

Re: What the World’s Emptiest International Airport Says About China’s Influence

#60
Hi My name is Julian Houston, am from upper island cove , Canada.. I want to Use this opportunity to thank God for using this Great prophet to solve my Marriage problem. This Great Prophet of God brought my husband back to me. 3 years ago, i and my husband has been into one quarrel or the other until he finally left me for one lady. I felt my life was over and my kids thought they would never see their father again. I tried to be strong just for the kids but i could not control the pains that was tormenting my heart. My heart was filled with sorrows and pains, because i was really in love with my husband. Every day and night i think of him and always wish he would come back to me. Until one day i melt a good friend of mine that was once in my situation, but her problem was different a little bite, her ex-boyfriend who she had an unwanted pregnancy for refused to take responsibility and dumped her. She told me that mine issue was a minor case and that i shouldn't worry about it at all. So, i asked her what was the solution to my problems and she gave me this Great Prophet of God phone number and his email address. I was doubting if this Great Prophet of God could actually solve my problem. So, I contacted this Great Prophet of God and he told me what to do and i did it. He told me to wait for just four days and that my husband will come crawling on his kneels just for forgiveness. So, I faithfully did what this Great Prophet of God asked me to do and for sure after four days i heard a knock on the door, in a great Surprise i saw him on his knees and i was speechless, when he saw me, all he did was crying and asking me for forgiveness, from that day, all the pains and sorrows in my heart flew away, since then i and my husband and our lovely kids are happy. That why i want to say thank you to God for using Prophet Ikehedu .to solve my marriage problem. This Great Prophet of God made me to understand that there’s no problem on earth that does not Have solution. So, if you are having same problem, any problem that is Similar, i will advise you to a contact This Great Prophet of God straight At prophetikehedu@gmail.com
Post reply on HN