China is a long way from being a Democracy,Beijing still controls every aspect of Chinese life and effectively controls all assets owned by its citizens at home and abroad.
Its policy of making China the workshop of the World requires massive foreign investment in its industry,a low cost labour market,foreign know-how,an artificially low exchange rate and control of the price of its raw materials.
The rise in the price of Australian iron ore,71%,has staggered and infuriated China who has refused World demands to float its currency.
At the recent Boao forum for Asia,held in a remote part of China,and reported in the Australian,25.4.05,by Catherine Armitage,China used every means possible to force Howard to include in the proposed F.T.A. negotiations long term control of the prices for the resources we sell to China. Howard could only refuse saying,“Matters of price and supply and timing are things for companies to determine,Governments should not become involved beyond high-level project facilitation”. But ‘Chinese Howard’ gives them an alternative if he goes ahead and gives China preferential treatment in buying into Australian resource projects (Catherine Armitage,Australian,20.4.05,page 4.)
If China,through its overseas companies,buys control of any resource then the cost of that resource to China will be determined by China and the international market will not play a role.
It is one thing to let international companies buy control of Australian assets but quite another to let foreign governments own part of Australia,particularly when that government is a tyranny. If Howard goes further and lets China staff with its own people these projects,then Howard has made Australia part of China and the last step will be Chinese troops to protect their interests,like in Tibet and Taiwan.
