…the Dragon in the room
China’s celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Communist Party of China (CPC) – which hasn’t just survived, but is positively flourishing, as it’s about to guide the country into numero uno in the world economically!! It’s also celebrating the 72nd anniversary of the Chinese Republic, after Mao and his troops chased the “nationalist” government under Chiang Kai Shek over to Taiwan. No mean accomplishment for a party in a country dismissed only a few decades ago as a bread-basket case. Since then, they’ve lifted over 700 million people out of poverty – unique in the history of the world.
Back in 1949, when Mao launched the Chinese Republic, he was considered a junior partner to the USSR, whose Communist Party, founded in 1917, had inspired the CPC. But the Chinese always rejected the Russian attempt to define what communism meant, and maintained their historical belief in the unique position of China as “the Middle Kingdom”. Not just a geographical expression, but one that defined China as the fulcrum on which the earth revolved! China took on the US the very next year, in the Korean War which ended up dividing the Korean Peninsula.
But it was not easy sailing for China to where it is now today. Under Mao, his “Great Leap Forward” economic plan was one of the greatest disasters on planet earth. This was “a five-year plan of forced agricultural collectivisation and rural industrialisation” that was instituted by the Chinese Communist Party in 1958, which resulted in a sharp contraction in the Chinese economy and between 30 and 45 million deaths by starvation, execution, torture, forced labour and suicide out of desperation. It was the largest single, non-wartime campaign of mass killing in human history.”
Like Mao, Burnham was a dogmatist about his grandiose “vision” to “mould” the nation, and as your Eyewitness pointed out recently, was willing to have everyone die rather than modify it. They were destroyers. The second leader, Deng Xiaoping, was a reformer and a pragmatist. His philosophy was “it doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white – once it catches the mice”!! Meaning, he wasn’t hung up as to what method was used to take care of the immediate task – to develop China economically ASAP!! And that’s how we had the corporations from the “Great Satan” America being invited to set up shop in China and use the infinite supply of cheap Chinese labour. But they kept the Chinese Party in control, and from the “destroyer” (Mao) and “Reformer” (Deng), we now have the “Innovator” – Xi Jinping.
Let’s see how innovative he’ll be to become #1 in a multilateral world with America still militarily dominant.
And India economically ascendant!
…Local content blues
The GCCI isn’t happy with the state of play in “local content” as it relates to the burgeoning oil industry that was supposed to lift our local business (ships). In fact, it’s downright unhappy, as expressed in an uncharacteristically sharply-worded release. “GCCI notes the overwhelming number of infrastructure work that’s being handled by foreign-owned companies.
“Additionally, the GCCI cited the high volume of trucking, logistical and other support services being operated by foreign-owned companies – particularly as it relates to the oil and gas sector.”
They also identified a loophole in the Corporations Law – where foreign companies can just register a company locally and they are “baptized” as a “local company”!! Imagine that!! Your Eyewitness had always maintained there should be a required quantum of local ownership in such companies – with a caveat that a programme of further Guyanisation continue.
So, the GCCI is DEMANDING that the Local Bill be tabled in Parliament before year end.
The subject Minister agrees. Let’s see.
…telecommunications liberalisation
Well, it’s been one year since the Government liberalised the telecommunications sector after 30 years of GTT’s strangulating monopoly. So we’re ever so slowly seeing some improvements in the brave new world of wireless communications.
Competition is always good!!
