Moeletsi Mbeiki, a brother of former South African president Thabo Mbeki, talked about the cheap Chinese imports being sold all over Africa...and here in North America.
"Africa sells its natural resources to China," he said, "and China sells the well-manufactured products back to Africa. This dangerous system reproduces Afrca's past relationships with colonial powers. Not only must Africa hold on to its own resources for its own industrialization but China must also contribute to the deindustrialization of countries that are relatively developed."
The quote is from China Safari, by Serge Michel and Michel Beuret, recommended previously. It's an account of China's expansion in Africa and its implications for the rest of the world.
The rest of the world includes North America. Dear American and Canadian readers, think about what your countries export to China. Canada exports more raw materials and non-renewable resources than manufactured goods...by far. And what do we get back? Frogs that croak when you punch them on the nose. (See last post.)
Not so long ago, when I was something of a political activist, Canadians used to worry about becoming mere "hewers of wood and drawers of water" for the USA. We didn't worry that American troops would march into our country and make us all sing "the Star-Spangled Banner". (They tried that in 1812 and it didn't work.) No, Canadians worried that America would simply buy us!
Today the USA owes trillions of dollars to "others". Who do you suppose holds the largest slice of the American pie? That's right. China owns over 10% of all outstanding American bonds and t-bills, not to mention billions of US dollars in reserves. China could drive the USA into bankruptcy in an instant, if it so chose. But it won't. To do so would be economic suicide for China.
In the brave new world of the 21st century, China and the USA have a symbiotic relationship. They depend on each other. They need each other. All because of simple economics.
But who controls the relationship? Who are the colonizers and who are the colonized? Clearly, the Chinese own China. But who owns America?
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