I do not have a problem selling these things to foreign entities as a principle although I do share some concerns about the Chinese Government.
One of my biggest problems is people do not hold China to the same standards they hold the British and Americans to.
Maybe it's their lack of free press so we do not really know about their human rights record and how controlled the people actually are. Nor do we have an appreciation for China's Debt issues and when their "bubble" might burst and the impact that could have.
On the surface it's a good thing for The Bahamas government to refinance debt if it will provide some breathing space.
Having said that, at least two important questions arise:
- Knowledge of what strings might be attached would be useful to know. and,
- What steps will be taken by the government to assure we do not get into the mess we're in again?
I would also submit the narrative that the Chinese are great planners and think about generations unborn is a myth. The Chinese have killed millions upon millions of their own people to maintain the power status quo. On top of that, add the unintended consequences of their one child policy that still haunts them.
Lest we forget they are a one party government, and private property rights barely exist as we know them.
It is only their recent realisation that Capitalism works to bring people out of poverty that has helped some Chinese. They still have a long way to go.
Many of us, myself included, scoff at the demands put on us by the OECD and WTO etc, but we can rest assured the select few rulers of China will also have "desires", (read demands).
The desperate fiscal position our country has been placed in over the years is now beginning to unfold with angles none of us have thought of.
China's rulers have had no mercy on their own people over the decades. If nothing else, we need to be at least as wary if them as we are the motives of the USA. No let me re-phrase that. We need to be more wary of their motives than we are of those of America, a country that remains our largest trading partner and most important ally.
Maybe China rests somewhere between the two dragon images, but sometimes ethics and morality should be taken into consideration when thinking about closer relations with countries that we do not share cultural or economic ties with.
Caveat Emptor seems an appropriate position for The Bahamas to take with China? Examine their record on the continent of Africa for example.
