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China is helping to build a spanking new home for the President and Foreign Ministry of East Timor, but apparently not everyone is happy. The Timorese workers Al-Jazeera interviewed say they are paid only $3 per day while their Chinese counterparts are paid $36. This works out to about RMB7,560 monthly according to our calculations — a ridiculous figure even for "expatriate" construction workers. Al-Jazeera then goes on to lambast China for not delivering its aid in a way that benefits the average Timorese citizen, suggesting that China is in it all for Timor's oil as well as its potential multi-million dollar fishing industry — old tired arguments that we're getting tired of hearing.
We'd love to hear from the reporter Hannah Belcher which country she'd like to point out as a paragon of virtue when it comes to foreign aid policy. China really does get the short end of the stick sometimes. It gets blamed when it tries to engage poorer nations like East Timor (even when its intentions may be less than altruistic). It gets blamed for not doing enough in Darfur and Myanmar. One wonders what China will be accused of the day it decides to really do something in those places.
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I thought the Shanghaiist just posted news links and not opinion. What's up with the last paragraph? Are you working on your resume for the China Daily Mr. Tan? Why don't you just let the link speak for itself, I don't need your help analyzing it. When you say "We'd love to hear..." are you speaking for yourself or everybody at Shanghaiist? I really hope you guys aren't turning into another branch of Xinhua over there.
One must be blind,new, or just naive not to see that Shanghaiist posts stories with the personal biases of each of its writers. One of the beauties and curses of blog style reporting. But love it or hate it, it presents an interesting perspective on the news. And one would be naive to think ANY blog news source could be unbiased. Shanghaiist is no different and thus opinions are often part of the equation, but at least its apparent (well, to most of us I guess) as opposed to the subtle biases found in mainstream media.
To be fair though, coming from someone like myself who dislikes the CCP government immensely, the "blame China" story is indeed quite common. I would venture though that the skin of many Chinese is too thin when it comes to them (Although I think Kenneth is not being as critical as you all think. He is merely stating an observation that does have some truth to it).
The lesson for China is this: If you are big, people will pay attention to what you are doing. Do you honestly think that much of the criticism of the US, for example, is because what the US does is so much nastier than what other countries do? No. It is because people like criticising those at the top.
This said, there are issues out there over which China gets a free ride and could use a bit more blame.
Considering that China directly and solely supports the governments of Sudan, Burma and NK, much criticism is deserved. Kenny must have felt pretty Chinese these days, even though his Singapore passport is tucked away carefully in his sock drawer, looking right at him on occasion...
We'll see how Chinese Kenneth feels when China tries to put naval squeeze on Singapore.
You're assuming the criticism is fair and balanced, instead of the many condescending and patronizing dribble that riles people, something you seem apt at giving out to China.
Generally, dsk, those at the receiving end of criticism rarely think it is "fair and balanced". If a critic were to always consider whether or not the criticised party thinks the criticism is "fair and balanced" before making the criticism, no criticisms would ever be made, no?
@icecat77:
If you've read Shanghaiist long enough, you'll know we've been accused of being "anti-Chinese" as often as we've been accused of being "panda lickers". So make what you will of that.
@nanheyangrouchuan
If you knew me personally, you'd know I don't consider myself Chinese, I don't like people calling me Chinese-Singaporean. and I have gone out of my way to correct people who refer to me as "overseas Chinese". I am just Singaporean, period.
==
Chinese media may be government controlled, but Western media can be as ridiculous sometimes when it comes to reporting on China. In this case, I don't think the reporter did anything more than to mash all of the usual recycled-to-death complaints against China that she's previously heard into her three-minute report. Critical thinking? Give me a break.
When it comes to foreign aid, I don't think any country can claim to be fully altruistic. Think about the millions of dollars of aid that have been poured into Africa. Have they gone into lifting the average African out of poverty? Think about the ongoing mess in Iraq. And, oh, did anyone mention what Australia did to East Timor? If you knew the full story, you'd understand why East Timor is looking for other friends in the region.
Well, the western media tends to get its info from sources within Africa and SE Asia and there are alot of local people in those areas (some are gov't officials) and they have alot to be unhappy about. Especially China's pillaging of their land just as they are picking themselves up from western colonization 50-100 years ago.
And China's infrastructure projects ARE NOT aid in any way shape or form. It is a form of barter trade. China builds this stuff, providing all of the financing for the projects and takes that value out and then some from that country's mineral, food, water and wood resources. And unlike western companies, doesn't even use local labor. Hordes of Chinese peasant (and more often prisoner) laborers are brought in. So there is little or no organic stimulus of the domestic economy.
China, the harbinger of death and suffering.
With Chinese investments, East Timor will soon become another Bali. Chinese tourists will go there to spend their money and benefit the inhabitant to improve their standard of living.
No, the locals in Bali will have to deal with queue jumping, pushy, ultranationalist public urinators dumping garbage all over their pristine beaches and starting big fights with local vendors over every little item...and demanding Chinese food.
My friend who just recently returned from Xinjiang told me that he would never want to return to that filthy place again. He said the experience there was so horrible, basically that place is worse than many other places in China like the inland city like Chongqing, and even thousands of miles behind Beijing and Shanghai. He basically said that the place is quite disgusting to start with, very bad roads, the uighurs there have very bad attitudes. After interacting with the local uighurs, he said what he noticed is that despite being given special treatment by the central government in term of university entry exams, many still opt not to go on to higher education, and in normal lives, they are very slack and lazy, they don't care much about reaching higher or anything, they are quite easy going with their own lives, it is like "whatever comes, let it come" , they spend most of their time in the mosques and sitting around gossiping instead of looking for decent jobs. They totally lack ambitions and determination. He especially dislike the lamb kebab, he said it just does not smell right and after eating one portion, it gave him really bad upset stomach. He one time caught a uighur mother let her child take a poo in a local pond, they totally don't have a sense of social awareness in them, and taking a poo in the pond is just one example, he said he just does not want to remember anything about that place, he's back in Shanghai now and he said he's very glad that he does not have to return to that place ever again. He sometimes asks me why China even consider keep that group of people as part of China, a group of people with no self determination, awareness and bad attitude as part of China. I said maybe because of the land.
Does not matter what China tries to do, it will get blamed for a variety of reasons.
As it is too big and it is growing in terms of its economic and political influence in the world stage.
I would hope critics care what their readers think, if they wrote a profanity laced article wihtout a care then it'd turn people away. Critics make arguments that engage people and presenting it in a fair and balanced manner maximizes that initiative.
East Timor won't become another Bali, it will become another Hainan -- a wasteland of crappy hotels sitting amidst toxic beaches.
to nanheyangrouchuan
--"more often prisoner laborers are brought in"?
Prisoners in China are not persmitted to go abroad, a fact you are not enlightened enough to know.
Look around you find hardworking Chinese around world, unlike your warmongering empire which only spread rambo marines over globe. That's the reason China has a 10% GDP for 30 years while you become, well, a financial socialism with American characteristics, lol!
I am wondering if the blogger can do math correctly.
If Chinese workers' daily wage is 36 US dollars, and workers work 5 days a week(like what you do!!!), and now the exhange rate is 6.83 RMB per dollar. their monthly wage would be: 36*20*6.83=4917.6
it is absolutely NOT 7560 RMB.
so the question is would you work 30 days a month without any rest? So why do you calculate monthly wage on 30 working days basis?
5000 RMB a month is not very high for a Chinese construction worker in coastal cities. You have to know that.
another question is, if a Western comany hires a Chinese, do they pay Chinese according to their country's salary standard or China's standard? If an American firm pays a chinese 10000RMB a month(it is still good money by China's standard.), would we say it is not fair and it is cruel exploitation, since the monthly per capita income in USA is around 4000$(pre-tax.it is euqal to 27320 RMB)?
Why people have double-standard when it comes to China?
so if the annual per capita income of East Timor is less than 500 $, then 3$ per day is not bad for them. that's the fair game
5000rmb a month not very much for a ming gong? not working almost everyday? i would think thats more than a little out of touch.
Let Timor returns to the motherland Indonesia since they whine about low wages! They are lucky to have a job!
Exactly thank you larboard, what I notice is that the Africans and those people in East Timor really love to complain even when their own mouths (watch the video above please) said they don't have other choice in their own countries, their countries don't even generate enough opportunities for their own people, so the Chinese firms move in and show them the light at the end of the tunnel, and yet they don't appreciate and keep on complaining.
In China, people work at the factories are still being paid bad by foreign companies but they still keep their heads down and work, because they know China is still in the phase of developing, if people keep complaining, they won't even have a single rice on the plate. I think the Chinese companies should not even employ any kind of those people, and see if $0 a day is good or $3 a day is good.
I am not against Chinese involvement in East Timor at all - small countries need a counterweight to their larger neighbours, and China fits the bill.
However, why waste money build these grand buildings for the country's government? Why not build new schools or hospitals?
@larboard - "With Chinese investments, East Timor will soon become another Bali."
Why are people obsessed with making East Timor 'another Bali'? There are better models for its tourist industry - the Maldives, for example. Chinese tourists will be welcome, though - they can't be any worse than the obnoxious Aussies who treat Bali like a colony.
@larboard - "Let Timor returns [sic] to the motherland Indonesia since they whine about low wages!"
China recognised East Timor's independence in 1975 before Indonesia invaded and annexed it. Indonesia is not China - it is as much a legacy of artificial colonial boundaries as East Timor. And why would the Chinese want Timorese to 'return' to Indonesia, a country where Chinese were banned from speaking their own language?
Many Timorese are working in Europe where they send more money back in remittances in a month than they would working for the Chinese - or anyone else in their own country, for that matter.
YOU would 'whine' about low wages if the cost of living in China were as high as it is in East Timor.
"And why would the Chinese want Timorese to 'return' to Indonesia, a country where Chinese were banned from speaking their own language?"
Because China doesn't want any successful example of "separatism" to encourage the Tibetan and E. Turkestan freedom fighters or justify the existence of the independent and superior nation of Taiwan.
In that case, why did China recognise East Timor as an independent country in 1975 and denounce 'Indonesian aggression' at the UN? Hardly something you'd expect from people railing against 'splittists'.
If Indonesia had behaved over East Timor the way China did over Macau (telling the Portuguese to remain until conditions were ripe for the handover) then history would have been different.
Of course, as Taiwan is now a democracy, the government in Taipei can no longer get away with building these white elephants in impoverished countries in return for diplomatic recognition, because voters get irate about their taxes being wasted on dollar diplomacy.