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Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, May 25, 2017
One Belt, One Road, Total Corruption
“Corruption is not just the result of money being misused, but the lack of a fair and transparent mechanism itself.”
( May 23, 2017, Berlin, Sri Lanka Guardian) God
said: “Let there be light,” and then there was light. Xi Jinping said:
“A ‘Project of the Century’ must be undertaken,” and then there was “One
Belt, One Road.” At the just-completed summit in Beijing, Xi Jinping
announced that China will
invest hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars in 60 countries to lead in
the construction of bridges, railways, ports and energy projects. This
venture is known as “One Belt, One Road,” and involves more than 60
percent of the world’s population. It’s projected to transform the
global political and economic order, and can be said to be the largest
overseas investment project undertaken by a single country in history.
Where does such an unprecedented, magnificent, and spectacular plan come from? How many Chinese were
aware of it in advance? Was it critically evaluated? And what was the
outcome of the evaluation? Other than Xi Jinping, there is probably no
one who can answer these questions. And no one knows if he himself has
carefully thought about it. People can at least learn about almighty God
by reading the Bible. But the “One Belt, One Road” plan of renewing the
world only consists of a few pages of empty speeches and some
conference documents. According to Chinese media descriptions, the whole world is heralding the birth of a new savior.
‘One Belt, One Road’: Don’t Ask Me Where I Came From
It’s been 500 years since Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation, but in China a
corrupt “church” still monopolizes everything. Rational Europeans cast a
suspicious eye. German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not attend the
forum and “join in the festivities,” and the German Minister for
Economics and Energy, Brigitte Zypries, who attended the event,
criticized the unclear source of capital in China‘s
acquisition of German companies. Minister Zypries should also see that
the lack of clarity does not just apply to the origin of part of the
capital, but the whole “One Belt, One Road” project.
Joerg Wuttke, President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said in a recent interview: “I hope China is actually embracing the world and opening up to foreign trade instead of just reaching out.” Risk analyst Andrew Gilholm said: “I don’t think many people are buying the spin that this is all in the name of free trade and global prosperity.” Siegfried O. Wolf,
Director of Research at South Asia Democratic Forum in Brussels, was
even more candid: “At present there is a lack of an effective platform
for ‘One Bridge, One Road’ cooperation between Europe and China. If China is
reluctant to build this bridge, and is unwilling to move toward
multilateral mechanisms and disregards the values of the European Union
based on good governance, rule of law, human rights, and democracy, then
European skepticism of ‘One Belt, One Road’ will continue.”
Countries outside Europe aren’t irrational either. U.S. President Donald
Trump, a businessman, has adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward China‘s
Creation Project, and only sent National Security Council Asia Director
Matthew Pottinger to attend the meeting. Australia rejected China‘s
invitation. India boycotted the summit, saying that the “One Belt, One
Road” project ignored “core concerns about sovereignty and territorial
integrity.” Many of the leaders attending the summit are autocrats who
don’t care about the questionable origin of China‘s funding, and know the Chinese government doesn’t care how the investment is actually used once it’s given.
Buy One, Give Two Away: Corruption and the Deterioration of Human Rights
Many Chinese believe
that Xi Jinping is leading a fight against corruption. What is
corruption? Corruption is not just the result of money being misused,
but the lack of a fair and transparent mechanism itself. In this sense,
the lack of democratic supervision of “One Belt, One Road” is a
mechanism for corruption. As with all large projects in China,
there is no restriction on power, and this inevitably results in the
criminal activities of corruption, rent-seeking, giving and taking
bribes and money laundering.
While the Chinese media was obediently singing the praises of “One Belt, One Road” and its benefit to all mankind, a Chinese netizen posted the comment: “Some people lamented that overnight we’ve returned to the Song Dynasty [translator’s note: Song is a homonym for “give away” in Mandarin].
Others asked: the Southern Song Dynasty or the Northern Song Dynasty?
Answer: No, it’s not ‘Southern Song Dynasty or Northern Song Dynasty,’
it’s the ‘Eastern Song [Give-Away] Dynasty’ and ‘Western Song
[Give-Away] Dynasty!” Without public oversight, an unelected leader can
take hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars in taxpayers’ money and give
it to authoritarian states. The only thing that taxpayers can do is
sneer at and mock it. Can a sane person believe that this is a good
thing?
In the process of cooking up “One Belt, One Road,” China‘s
human rights situation has significantly deteriorated and threatens the
whole world. Can all these—the kidnapping of Hong Kong booksellers, the
coerced confessions of journalists, NGO workers, dissidents, and
activists on China Central
Television (CCTV), the disappearance of a Taiwanese human rights
worker, and the cruel torture suffered by a large number of Chinese human
rights lawyers—make you believe that such a government, which is
expanding its economic and political clout through the “One Belt, One
Road” program, will bring a New Gospel to mankind?
Chang Ping is a Chinese media veteran and current events commentator now living in political exile in Germany.