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Same goes for the hydo plants, railways, etc.
Of course, almost all of the roads and railways are to extract resources, not to help locals in any way.
I'm in West Africa now, and it's staggering to drive out of a tiny jungle track onto a highway equal in size and quality to anywhere in the world. It's also staggering to catch up to the road crew and see they are all Chinese. Same goes for the hydo plants, railways, etc. Of course, almost all of the roads and railways are to extract resources, not to help locals in any way.
I'm in West Africa now, and it's staggering to drive out of a tiny jungle track onto a highway equal in size and quality to anywhere in the world. It's also staggering to catch up to the road crew and see they are all Chinese. Same goes for the hydo plants, railways, etc. Of course, almost all of the roads and railways are to extract resources, not to help locals in any way.
Could be a win-win situation for both the Chinese and the local.
No, It's really not helping locals.
I'm in West Africa now, and it's staggering to drive out of a tiny jungle track onto a highway equal in size and quality to anywhere in the world. It's also staggering to catch up to the road crew and see they are all Chinese. Same goes for the hydo plants, railways, etc. Of course, almost all of the roads and railways are to extract resources, not to help locals in any way.
Could be a win-win situation for both the Chinese and the local.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could be a win-win situation for both the Chinese and the local.
China stripping all the resources at a fraction of the international price, raping the environment, hiring zero locals, and building roads and railways that go from some place useless to another place useless. No, It's really not helping locals.
I'm in West Africa now, and it's staggering to drive out of a tiny jungle track onto a highway equal in size and quality to anywhere in the world. It's also staggering to catch up to the road crew and see they are all Chinese. Same goes for the hydo plants, railways, etc. Of course, almost all of the roads and railways are to extract resources, not to help locals in any way.
By the way, where in West Africa are you? I'm asking because the perception of China in West African countries is among the highest in the world, with only 10-20% unfavorable view, compared to 45-70% in Europe and North America [0].
Is it possible that you are projecting your own perception of China? Is it possible that your perception is influenced by Western media?
Color me skeptical...
[0] http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/07/14/chapter-2-chinas-image/
What's interesting is if you look at the parallel international institutions that China are developing that will compete with the IMF et al, many of the partners are traditional and very close allies of the United States.
For ex. with the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, six of the top ten participants are all traditional very close allies of the United States - including Australia, France, the UK and South Korea[0]
Long before Trump, Obama lobbied the leaders of these nations and advised against joining the AIIB, to no avail[1] All that post-war development and planning of building up the US sphere of influence slowly and steadily fading away.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Infrastructure_Investmen...
[1] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-asia-bank-idUSKBN0M...
I'm in West Africa now, and it's staggering to drive out of a tiny jungle track onto a highway equal in size and quality to anywhere in the world. It's also staggering to catch up to the road crew and see they are all Chinese. Same goes for the hydo plants, railways, etc. Of course, almost all of the roads and railways are to extract resources, not to help locals in any way.
> According to her data, the top 20 African nations in which China is involved include not only commodity-rich nations such as Nigeria and South Africa, but commodity-poor nations like Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
> the largest deals — which tend to be government-to-government — do in fact involve infrastructure projects and natural resources. Those are the deals that make headlines. But, she asserted, they tend to skew the total reality. When looking at all Chinese firms that invested in Africa between 1998 and 2012, she said a picture emerges of small- and medium-sized private Chinese firms whose activities have nothing to do with commodities. “The number-one industry, in fact, is in services. It’s business services; it’s wholesale and retail,”
There's a separate question of how robust the environmental controls, etc. are - but a lot of that is up to the local governments.
They're going to take the sweet deals rather than the more onerous US terms and all their requirements.
The article below is a great read - it talks about how the African nations are including more stipulations in deals - such as quotas for local employment, educational investment etc.
[0] http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/chinas-investment...
I'm in West Africa now, and it's staggering to drive out of a tiny jungle track onto a highway equal in size and quality to anywhere in the world. It's also staggering to catch up to the road crew and see they are all Chinese. Same goes for the hydo plants, railways, etc. Of course, almost all of the roads and railways are to extract resources, not to help locals in any way.
Could be a win-win situation for both the Chinese and the local.