We heard a lot about westerners life style, like
independant, open mind, fkk everywhere.......but some of things confuse
me all the time, everyone coming from their parents, then parent feed
kids, raise them to grow up, get education, teaching them everything.
In China, when children turn into an adult and earn living, we always
pay back to our parent by part of our salary, for me, I give my Mom
almost a half of my salary each month. but I never take that as a money
issue, I think it's a kind of grateful mind, your parent born you, raise
you, they paid out their time, their kind, their patience, their
energy....... so we should appreciate back to them by all we have......
so but why westerners leave home when he 18 years old, some people even
never meet their parent again after leaving......... do u hate ur parent
to bring u to this world or what? and why don't u appreciate for your
parent kindness on raising you, accompany you all the time when u were
kid........
it's so strange, I'm wondering.........
by Bernardo Cervellera
Many hope that Beijing might buy Italy’s and
Europe’s sovereign debt; however, China’s economy has the same problems
as that of the rest of the world: overproduction, export dependency, and
overreliance on exports and foreign capital—add to that the yuan’s
artificial value and an unfree workforce. Instead, China and Europe
should heed Benedict XVI’s teachings, namely that man (not profits) and a
sense of responsibility must be at the centre of the economy.
Rome – It will be difficult if
not impossible for China to save Italy and Europe from its sovereign
debt crisis. In recent days, the Financial Times ran a few stories
saying that Rome and Beijing had reached a deal for the mainland to buy
Italian treasury bills. Many economists and bankers reacted favourably
to the news that China was coming to Europe’s rescue. Some predict that
China would even save the world.
We cannot share this optimism. Speaking to World Economic Forum in
Dalian, China’s premier Wen Jiabao said that his country would lend
Europe a “helping hand” but he showed very little enthusiasm about
paying for Europe’s debt. What is more, his conditions for help, like
granting China ‘full market economy’ status as well as the elimination
of tariffs, would be just the sign of another flood of Chinese goods.
Indeed, the numbers do not add up. If Beijing wants to help the European
and world economies, it should lift its own tariffs on imported goods.
Looking at figures for 2010, China’s trade surplus with the rest of the
world stood at US$ 184.4 billion. If Beijing wants to help the world
pull out of this crisis, it must import more and its trade balance
should be in negative territory. However, if it did this it would likely
increase unemployment, which is already high and a source of headaches
for China’s leaders.
It is true that with US$ 3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, China
is investing around the world. Italy and Europe could hope for some
crumbs. However, if we look closely at the numbers, we see that if the
mainland invested US$ 38 billion abroad in 2009, the rest of the world
splurged US$ 106 billion in China (Source: UNCTAD). In short, Beijing
takes more than it gives. And this surplus goes to help China to
recapitalise its often insolvent banking system.
Placing any hope on China helping the world economy is unrealistic and
flawed reasoning. China is in the same situation as the rest of the
world, weighted down by overproduction, export dependency, overexposed
banks, and compressed consumption. Its success lies on an artificially
overvalued yuan and a cheap and unfree workforce.
With a doped economy, Chinese leaders have launched an ambitious
infrastructure programme to boost gross domestic product. Contrary to
expectations, this did not created any real wealth. More than half of
all housing and office space lies vacant because no one can buy them.
China’s economy lacks something else: fantasy and creativity. For
centuries, Chinese leaders held their culture within restrictive
confines, stifling their people under imperial and then Communist
control. Creativity instead needs freedom and human rights, another
element that is still missing in today’s China.
China can pull off great shows—the Olympics, Shanghai Expo, Asia
Games—but it cannot solve the problems of its people: the chaotic
traffic in its megacities, pollution, quality of life and justice for
its workers and farmers.
On his flight to Madrid for World Youth Day, Benedict XVI said that “man
must be the centre of the economy and the economy cannot be measured
according to the maxim of profit but rather according to the common good
of all, that it implies responsibility for others and only really
functions well if it functions humanly, with respect for others.”
China, but also Europe, has not placed man at the centre of things;
their leaders lack a creative sense of responsibility. Both tend to seek
solutions by dumping responsibility on the shoulders of some “economic
saviour”.
Two economists talk about a report in the Financial Times to that effect. “It’s nothing new. China has been looking at our market for some times,” says one. “It is a warning to the UCB. If it buys our debt, someone else will be the big player,” says d’Orlando.
Rome – China’s purchase of
Italian public debt “is nothing new. It should not cause any alarm.
Beijing has been buying Italian bonds for quite some time,” an Italian
economist told AsiaNews. “Of course, if it should turn out that
it holds 4 per cent of Italian debt that would be news, good news that
is,” he added. The economist entertains cordial relations with Beijing
and Chinese businessmen.
According to the Financial Times, China holds about 4 per cent
of Italy’s € 1.9 trillion debt (US$ 2.6 trillion). Citing Italian
sources, the newspaper said that the recent visit by “Lou Jiwei,
chairman of China Investment Corp, one of the world’s largest sovereign
wealth funds” was a sign of China’s interest in Italian bonds.
In his visit to Italy (which follows a visit to Beijing by the head of
Italy’s treasury, Vittorio Grilli), Lou held talks with Italian Economy
Minister Giulio Tremonti and representatives of the Cassa Depositi e
Prestiti (Deposit and Loans Bank), during which Tremonti negotiated the
mass purchase of Italy’s public debt even though he expressed reluctance
for what he once described as “reverse colonisation”.
“To talk about colonisation in today’s world and with the existing international financial system is absurd,” an economist told AsiaNews.
“Tremonti knows it and perhaps sought a valid alternative to the usual
buyers. The collapse of the eurozone or the default of some European
nations would be hard blow to Beijing. An ‘international governance’
espoused by some governments would be even worse. This is why the
purchase is going ahead.”
According to Maurizio d’Orlando, an economist and economic commentator for AsiaNews,
“this is not surprising. What the Italian government wants is simple
but misconceived. By leaking the information, Italy has for all intents
and purposes let the European Central Bank know that it wants Europe to
buy Italian public debt. If the ECB does, Italy then would have more
buyers lined up; in this case, China.”
Beijing “is trying to do with Europe what it has done with the United
States,” d’Orlando explained. “Since it cannot move away from an
export-driven economy, and continues to hold the yuan below its real
value, it must prop up export markets for its own goods. So far, the Old
Continent has defended itself with import rules and non-tariff
barriers, like quality requirement on imported goods”.
“What China is doing is something else,” d’Orlando noted. “It wants to
turn the euro into an international reserve currency to counter the
dollar. However, this is a dangerous policy, for Europe as well. It
could increase the EU’s trade deficit with China, which until recently,
was not very big. This can be inferred from the fact that the Chinese
exchange rate is lower than the rate that the one based on the
purchasing power parity, which is to the advantage of Chinese
exporters.”
(AsiaNews)
