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Is The World China’s Oyster?

September 15, 2006 ⋅  E-Mail Article ⋅  Print Article ⋅ Post a comment

Reportedly Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson spoke loud and carried a big stick in his talk to China on Wednesday. Secretary Paulson is reported to have told China that it needs to make noticeable economic reforms or it will face a backlash from the rest of the world. The tough talk is what we want to hear but it is useless if China does not listen, which is exactly what most said happened. Beijing has blown off similar tough talk by Washington before and most see no reason why this will not be the case again. The reason, Beijing believes American businesses will just ignore their own politicians because of their greed. Thus, anything directly said by Washington will be of no consequence because of the CEO’s on Wall Street. Washington says this time it will be different because Secretary Paulson supposedly made it clear he wanted more than token reform, he wanted solid change.

Henry Paulson is supposedly a heavy handed well thought out individual who has moved from Wall Street to Washington when he assumed the position as the chief financial officer of the United States in July. Once in the position Paulson made it clear he was focused on seeing China raise the value of its yuan, he also wants economic reform in the country. Paulson believes Chinas’ monetary system and economic practices are being manipulated by Beijing and this is not ethical in today’s global economy. Paulson wants China to reforming its domestic economy by opening up its financial sector, provide pensions and benefits for Chinese workers, and to focus on cleaning up their horrendous environmental record.

Another troubling economic aspect of China is it’s eyeballing of South Korea and a territory it disputes with South Korea. South Korean officials have announced that China has conducted aerial surveillance on an islet controlled by South Korea. China’s State Oceanic Administration reported that Chinese planes surveyed a maritime observation facility on Ieo islet, 152 kilometers (94 miles) southwest of South Korea’s southernmost island of Mara, five times last year. Many say China is ready to raise the stakes on this critical island and it may raise the rhetoric in regards to its position about the island. Recently, China’s Foreign Ministry reasserted its claims to the islet, and criticized Seoul for establishing an observatory there. South Korea rejected Beijing’s claims and asserted the territory was within its exclusive economic zone.

China and South Korea have also been at odds recently over Beijing’s alleged attempts to distort Chinese history.

Is The World China’s Oyster?

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