Friday, September 30, 2011

South Africa kow-tows to China; Zambia warns China

What is it that the ANC does not get?  This week, Desmond Tutu decried, yet again, the government's refusal to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama, for fear of angering China.  China needs South Africa's mineral riches and its place as the most strongest economy in Africa.  You would think this would give the ANC a negotiating advantage.

With a change in leadership in Zambia, the Chinese are being put on notice to do a better job with workplace conditions and hiring Zambians rather than bringing in Chinese workers.  President Sata has been so critical of China in the past, that the Chinese had threatened to pull out of Zambia if he were to be elected.  Let's hope that his leadership on this issue will give some backbone to other leaders in developing economies in their demands that the Chinese act more ethically and with greater integrity in their economic/resource development policies.