This week, KGOU’s World Views host Suzette Grillot and contributor Rebecca Cruise discuss China’s role as a global power and the ways in which it has been exerting that power.
China Finds Opportunity For Investment In Struggling Brazilian Economy
Last week, China and Brazil entered into a series of trade and investment agreements collectively worth tens of billions of dollars. The agreements included Chinese investment in mega infrastructure projects such as a transcontinental railway and a joint fund worth $50 billion.
The foreign investment and infrastructure development projects may help turn around Brazil’s struggling economy, but is also likely to further China’s interests in the region and increase the Asian Giant’s sway in the Americas, Cruise said.
“This is not a surprise and in many ways it makes a lot of sense for both countries,” Cruise said.
Overfishing In Chinese Waters Turns Chinese Fleets To West Africa
On Wednesday, Greenpeace issued a report detailing illegal fishing practices by Chinese fleets of the coast of West Africa.
Cruise says while this could be considered an example of China taking advantage of smaller, less powerful countries, overfishing in Chinese waters left the Chinese fishing industry with few other choices.
“[China] has depleted its own resources and [is] looking to go elsewhere,” Cruise said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has defended Chinese fishing practices in African waters, claiming they “contribute to local employment, increase tax revenue and contribute to the local economy,” but they also pose significant environmental threats, Cruise said.
“The consequences, surely, are going to be felt around the world, not just in these areas that [China is] acting,” Cruise said.
Chinese Scientists Indicted By U.S. For Economic Espionage, Raise Cyber Security Questions
The U.S. Justice Department announced on Tuesday that six Chinese scientists would be charged with economic espionage for stealing microchip technology from American companies.
“This, of course, is part of the larger issue of cyber security, computer espionage, which has gone back and forth between [the U.S. and China],” Cruise said. “I think this does speak to this bigger issue of really exerting itself … [and cyber security] has become a concern.”
“China keeps pushing the boundaries and there’s going to be some reaction and our government is obviously becoming more and more concerned,” Cruise said.
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