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July 20, 2009
David Sirota sums up his trip to China, which he published in OpenLeft.com, in terms of two China's at Salon.com. He says that on his trip he's seen America circa 1900: coastal metropolises of towering wealth hemming in a polluted and destitute heartland. Two Chinas, as John Edwards might say -- one you constantly hear about and another hidden from view.
The China we know in Australia is the China of the economic miracle, which Sirota describes in terms of:
the sleek office towers, fine restaurants and nouveaux riches -- the "miracle" endlessly celebrated by the New York Times' Tom Friedman (China is a place of "wide avenues, skyscrapers, green spaces, software parks and universities"), Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria ("China's growth has obvious and amazing benefits for the world") and most of America's Very Serious Commentators.
The other China is Guiyang, a coal-mining town of 3 million in China's poorest province, which is the darker side of the "miracle." Sirota says:
Here in the countryside is the soundstage of a post-apocalyptic sci-fi flick -- filth-covered tenements slapped together with crumbling cement and kitchen tile; limbless paupers with burned faces begging for food; an atmosphere choked by soot, exhaust and the stench of human excrement.
What Australia cares about is China returning to its furious economic growth since that means greater demand for natural resources. We are dependent on China, addicted to its growth.
Bring back the commodities boom say the spruikers for the miners and energy companies. It's our path to riches. If the next boom can't be rebuilt on coal and iron ore, then lets built it on natural gas (LNG). Australia is open for business. Gas promises much lower emissions when used instead of coal in power generation and China promises by far the most demand growth. Bonanza time folks.
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It's a pretty telling indictment on Australian economic policymakers since Federation, really, that we still have to rely on Quarry Australia for our economic wellbeing. Sure, having resources is one way of making a living, but an advanced economy does not rely on digging rocks. Why are there no world class technology companies from Australia? Finland is in many ways like Australia, but because they invest in education and socially inclusive things, they also have companies like Nokia to back up the money they make from forestry.