Mackenzie Wolfgram
Econ 411
September 28, 2015
China to Offer $2B in Aid, Write off Undeveloped Nations’ Debt
At a recent UN summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China is rolling out multibillion dollar foreign aid/climate change funds, as well as writing off the debt owed by the world’s underdeveloped countries in an effort to facilitate their growth. While many are skeptical that the Chinese are attempting to win the favor of African Nations in order to exploit their labor and resources I believe that the Chinese move is one towards progress and modern ethics.
At it’s core, this is one of the first major foreign aid packages that China has pledged, citing a moderately newfound financial ability to stop focusing on their own growth and move towards a global focus. The Plan includes $2 Billion in financial aid, $3 Billion to fight climate change, and in addition, they are writing off the debt owed to them by some of the less developed countries globally. They also plan to pay for the training of 500,000 global warming experts in the coming years. Jin Canrong an international relations expert at Renmin University thought that these aid numbers were a bit low for a country with a $10 Trillion GDP, but he expects the numbers to go up steadily, since China has “not given enough” aid in the past. This is in agreement with Xi Jinping, who foresees the fund reaching $12 Billion in the next 15 years.
The Reason that this plan has so many critics is China’s history with both Africa, and pollution. The Country and its investors have been criticized for making heavy investments in poor African countries in order to profit from lax environmental regulations as well as non-existent labor laws. These business strategies have ravaged many African ecosystems. China is no stranger to pollution at home either, their factories fill the skies with smoke at an alarming rate often resulting in unsafe breathing conditions. It may be that these are not so much aid packages, but investments made to gain access third world countries, in order to air their dirty laundry there instead of at home.
Critics of this plan have a point, but there are cheaper ways to access African Labor and environmental standards than a $12 Billion aid package. China could just as easily be attempting to make bribes and pay off local governments of countries whose entire GDP is outshadowed by this aid package. Chinese politicians are making legitimate positive change.
It was not long ago that the United States had it’s own industrial revolution, which caused a great deal of pollution. While we criticize China, we too are a culprit of environmental harm. And while they are training 500,000 specialists on the issue, half of our government doesn't even believe in global warming. Obviously, we are still leaps and bounds ahead of China on environmental and humanitarian issues, but this is an interesting indicator of change.
Te-Ping Chen
China Commits to More Aid for Developing Countries
Alex Linder
Xi JinPing Pledges $2 billion for developing world, promises to write off debts of poorest countries
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