That is
because most of you are holding conspiracy theories as your basis
of your critics. And that the West is out to Tarnish
China image so as not to challenge western
dominant. The kind of suspicion carries on after the colonial
history. So Ah Pek pick some lowlife media to post on the
net.
But none
seemed to interested in understanding the roots of Western media…..
This is a more
main stream news in the U.S. (can’t speak for European) and
objectives insight so just read…….Read on and tell me where are the
bias
NPR.org,
December 8, 2008
· Amid all the coverage of the U.S.-China economic
relationship and the global financial crisis, a fair amount of copy
is taken up by conspiracy theories and misconceptions.
U.S. media reports sketch opposing images of China
as "white knight," rushing to the world's rescue with its $2
trillion in reserves — which, actually, are already invested and
not available for use in bailing anybody out — or a "black hand,"
using its huge holdings of U.S. government debt to choke us into
submission. In China, tabloid reports have convinced many
nationalistic readers that the financial crisis can only be a
U.S.-orchestrated plot to derail China's economy and international
ascent.
This economic myth-mongering unfortunately obscures
important shifts occurring in the global economy in which the U.S.
and China are playing leading roles.
One of the more compelling
arguments on this issue comes from Beijing University finance
professor Michael Pettis, who warns that we may be on the verge of
a powerful backlash against globalization and free trade.
He says that it's just another stage of a global monetary cycle
that has repeated itself a half-dozen times in the past couple of
centuries.
In each of these cycles, international trade and
investment flows grow, rich countries' stock and real estate
markets boom, and new technologies find widespread commercial
applications. With financial markets awash in money, interest rates
come down, and investors and lenders make increasingly risky loans
and investments in search of higher yields. Chief among such
investments are new technologies and emerging markets. The
technical term for this flood of money is a liquidity
expansion.
The other, darker side of this
cycle is liquidity contraction, which is what can be seen now.
Historically, the aftermath of such busts often includes social
unrest, political populism and radicalism, trade protectionism and
a general process of turning inward.
No wonder, then, that China's leaders are very
worried about the possibility of an economic meltdown threatening
their grip on political power. This is why they have temporarily
shelved their long-term concern about moving China's industries up
the value chain — and have instead begun propping up exporters by
devaluing the yuan, deciding to increase tax export rebates, and in
some places halting increases in the minimum wage. All of these
measures promise to make the transition to more value-added
industries a slower and more painful one.
So far, most of the bankruptcies and layoffs have
been among the Pearl River Delta's Hong Kong and Taiwanese-invested
factories, which export low-value-added products such as toys,
shoes and textiles. These firms have slim profit margins and little
in the way of proprietary technology or marketing know-how. Most of
them sign contracts with foreign buyers to produce goods at fixed
prices. When their labor and material costs go up, as they have
with a vengeance over the past year, these firms have no way to
pass on costs to consumers. Either the factories find ways to raise
efficiency, cut production, or they fold.
In recent years, some of the labor-intensive
factories have taken the Guangdong provincial government's advice
and tried to move to inland provinces. While labor is cheaper and
more plentiful than in Guangdong, exporters there say they face
challenges in getting their finished products to the coast for
shipping abroad. China's infrastructure is rapidly expanding
inland, but it's still very much a work in progress.
China's goal of reducing its reliance on exports and
its massive trade surplus with the U.S. is, of course, not just in
the interest of the U.S. China's industrial labor force has gotten
a very small share of the spoils of two decades of rapid economic
growth, for which they take much of the credit. Their wages and
standards of living have increased a lot slower than they ought to
have.
China also needs to replace energy-wasting, heavily
polluting factories with hi-tech and service businesses. And while
U.S. households have to save more and spend less, Chinese families
need to do the opposite. So every iPhone, patio furniture set and
Barbie doll that China exports to America means one less of that
product available for Chinese consumers to buy.