Human Rights in China ... and the global trade

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The more we look at China the more we must come to the conclusion that we, the so-called “free” world, should stop doing business with them, period. This would also be better for our economies and the Planet.

The latest in the saga is now that all SMS messages in China are being screened and subscribers cut off if the government censors do not like the contents of the message. Mind you, the way things are going with surveillance of this kind in The UK, Germany and such, we are not far behind this either.

And it is not just the CCTV surveillance in Britain and Germany that I am talking about; the Internet surveillance in Germany is bad as well, with the possibility of getting cut off from Internet supply if the powers that be decide that someone is “up to something”.

The Bundestrojaner that was in discussion a while back was something even more sinister in that it was a Trojan that was to be placed in all PCs in Germany so that the German Federal Police would be able to check as to what someone has on his or her computer. Welcome to the New Germany. Hitler had nothing on them.

The danger and worry for us in the European Union must be that what is being started in Germany (and Britain) may become the norm throughout the EU and we will all be forced to live under such a regime.

So, not much different but...

China has a record that certainly is a bad one and our developed home countries should not be involved there as regards to business dealings and having everything manufactured there. The way the global companies, mostly based in the West, do business in China it could be seen as an endorsement for the system and in many ways it actually is.

We have allowed China to take over too in many places, such as the USA and Canada.

China now owns the greatest share in the Alberta Tar Sands and we can certainly guarantee therefore that the environment will not be taken account of; not that the Canadian companies and other have cared for the environment in the process of the exploitation of the Tar Sands. Rather the opposite.

We are losing one manufacturing place after the other and it is all going to China, in the main, with one or two moving to Hungary and the likes. This is not good; not good for our economy and not good for our security, whether goods and services or energy, etc.

Most computers, their components and peripherals are, nowadays, made in China and hence we, who use all that equipment, have become rather dependent on that country for our needs in that field.

When it comes to security on that level who could tell as to whether the Chinese do not put something into the hardware that, in fact, actually may “call home”.

In short, and also with view of the possibility that the Chinese bubble is going to burst in the not so distant future, we must bring our businesses home so that we have security in production and products.

It may then also be possible to create products that last, that are repairable, and such, making it possible for us to get away from the “throw away society” that we are at present.

Our economy should also not be measured on how much is being sold annually or such; that is to say on growth due to products being designed to fail in a short time. Rather we must look at a different approach to measuring as to how healthy our economy is.

Outsourcing is not a good option for a county's economy; only for a global one, and we then give succor to regimes like the one in China. If need rather swap the Chinese Dragon for the Indian Tiger. At least India is a democracy and human rights are somewhat better than in China.

On the other hand, however, we must rather bring our industries back home in order to, actually, get back some security of products in the same way as this must be done as regards to agriculture as to food security.

Two world wars should have taught Britain a thing or two as to food security and also security of manufactured goods but, it would appear, that it has not. Utilities too must be taken back out of the hands of foreign companies and interests and be taken back into public ownership. Only thus can energy and water be secured for the people of the country.

I do not know how many British utilities are owned by China but most, if not indeed all, of our electricity generating capacity if foreign owned, whether it be by EDF, or by E-On or RWE, as in the case of N-Power. The latter regardless of whether their salespeople will, falsely, claim to be a British green energy company. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Many of the British water companies are also foreign owned; by American, French and nationalities. Again, whether China has its fingers in it I do not know for sure but in there are rumors.

This must stop and the same for the transport infrastructure, whether it be toll roads and toll bridges, the railroads, ports and airports. A country must not allow such infrastructure to be owned by outside sources, regardless of whether or not those entities are from friendly powers or not.

And here with this I will rest my case (for the moment).

© 2010