Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–149 of 149 posts

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

#141

Post by forapurpose »

ionised wrote: post #118
puranjay wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To add: an empire they also hated for what it did to China. One of my oldest friends went to China to study medicine. He's now a doctor in Shanghai. I visited him a while back and spent a lot of time with his Chinese colleagues. The overwhelming sense I got was that China believes it is their destiny to be the supreme power in the world, that western dominance is an aberration of history, and that it is China's right…

How original of them.

I agree with what you seem to imply: The attitudes of nationalism - and the evils it leads to - are well known, but hardly talked about these days. How could we have forgotten?

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

#142

Post by mcguire »

rohit2412 wrote: post #138
mcguire wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a very long game, though. The end results of the British Empire seem to be a net positive, although in most cases it took several hundred years and numerous wars. On the other hand, the Spanish empire doesn't seem to have been so beneficial.

For Britain? Yes. India doesn't agree with your thesis.

India is one of the successes. (After, of course, the United States, Canada, and Australia). It's the largest democracy in the world, and set up to be one of the wealthiest and most powerful after the current crop of powers.

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

#143

Post by narrator »

grecy wrote: post #93
princeb wrote: 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…

I have seen more of these than I can count in West Africa, and I am told the same is true in the East (I am going there next). The scale of construction here is staggering - I wrote a little about it [1]. It is not only roads - it's dams, deep water ports, high-rise buildings, etc. Basically anything that requires a high degree of competency in engineering. Western governments are now held to account when they make d…

The difference between Chinese and Western imperialism is the Chinese bring their whole population with them while the west tries to use a complex proxy system to control things remotely without having to live there.

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

#144

Post by hyperdunc »

themgt wrote: post #7

As 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…

Yes, China's hegemonic strategy of soft power through economic and infrastructure building is far superior to the US's military-based strategy.

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

#145

Post by puranjay »

forapurpose wrote: post #141
ionised wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How original of them.

I agree with what you seem to imply: The attitudes of nationalism - and the evils it leads to - are well known, but hardly talked about these days. How could we have forgotten?

Poverty and humiliation are powerful catalysts.

If you want to place blame, place it on the bankers who tanked the economy in 2008. We've never really recovered.

When you attack people's livelihoods, they get desperate. And in desperation, they choose despots who promise them their livelihoods, and more.

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

#146

Post by danmaz74 »

mamon wrote: post #139
danmaz74 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A very big difference is that EU convergence funds aren't debt you need to repay later - while those Chinese investments are. Those countries are getting into deep debt, sometimes to build things they don't need.

There's a catch with convergence funds: EU never pays 100% of the bill. Average is closer to 50%, I think, so it is enough to tempt politicians into unnecessary investments, and not enough to be completely harmless for local community budget (there are cities in Poland with debt to yearly income ratio of 80-90 %).

Theoretically, the not-100% rule is meant exactly so that the receiving state won't spend the money in completely wasteful projects. Unfortunately, this isn't a full assurance against the long term stupidity/short term greed of local politicians and voters alike - this happened in Southern Italy too, and surely in many other places.

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

#147

Post by rohit2412 »

mcguire wrote: post #142
rohit2412 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Britain? Yes. India doesn't agree with your thesis.

India is one of the successes. (After, of course, the United States, Canada, and Australia). It's the largest democracy in the world, and set up to be one of the wealthiest and most powerful after the current crop of powers.

How much of the positive is the result of British empire? And does it offset poverty caused by centuries of colonialism?

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

#148

Post by [deleted] »

mcguire wrote: post #142
rohit2412 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Britain? Yes. India doesn't agree with your thesis.

India is one of the successes. (After, of course, the United States, Canada, and Australia). It's the largest democracy in the world, and set up to be one of the wealthiest and most powerful after the current crop of powers.

[deleted]

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

#149

Post by volgo »

mcguire wrote: post #142
rohit2412 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Britain? Yes. India doesn't agree with your thesis.

India is one of the successes. (After, of course, the United States, Canada, and Australia). It's the largest democracy in the world, and set up to be one of the wealthiest and most powerful after the current crop of powers.

Really? I wouldnt call India a democratic success. I worked in India for a few months doing recruiting and have seen more poverty than I’m comfortable with, and I’ve been to some really poor countries. Old women selling vegetables for pennies on the side of a slum can have all the vote she wants, but it won’t change a thing

I had a long discussion with a few Indian coworkers. And the main problem they mention is politicians will promise irresponsible amount of free stuff to the poorest untouchable that end up being terrible policies

Nothing against the country, but take a look at the GDP of India vs China. They started out both at the bottom of world development, and 2 decades later...

https://imgur.com/gallery/itzav

Post reply on HN