சீன காலனித்துவம் ( மொழி பெயர்க்கப்பட்டது)

நீங்கள் அரசுக்கு வேலை செய்யும் ஒருவரா? நீங்கள் இராசபக்சே குடும்பத்தை சேர்ந்தவரா? அப்படி இல்லை சென்றால் சீன அரசு உங்கள் நண்பனாக இருக்க முடியாது.

சீன - சிங்கள உறவானது நாட்டுக்கும் நாட்டுக்கும் இடையிலான உறவு மாதிரி அல்ல, மாறாக தனிப்பட்ட நபர்களுக்கு இடையான உறவாக உள்ளது.

இன்று சீனா சிங்கள நாட்டில் துறைமுகங்கள் கட்டுகின்றது, வீதிகள் அமைக்கின்றது, பல முக்கிய திட்டங்களை முன்னெடுக்கின்றது. யார் இப்படியான அபிவிருத்தி திட்டங்களை கடைசியாக முன்னெடுத்தவர்கள்? - பிரித்தியநியர்கள். பிரித்தானியர்கள் இந்தியர்கள் உள்ளிட்ட தொழிலாளர்களை நாட்டுக்கு அழைத்துவந்தனர், உள்ளூர் அரசியல்வாதிகளுக்கு பணம் செலுத்தினர், அவர்கள் மூலம் சட்டங்களை மாற்றினர் தமக்கு நிலங்களை விற்க.

இன்று என்ன நடக்கின்றது? சீனா பல திட்டங்களில் பல கோடி ரூபாய்களை முதலீடு செய்துள்ளது, தனது கைதிகள் உட்பட்ட தொழிலாளர்களை இலங்கைக்கு கொண்டுவந்துள்ளது, ஆயுதங்கள் விற்றதன் மூலமும் பணம் மூலமும் இராசபக்சே குடும்பத்தை வாங்கியுள்ளது. இராசபக்சே குடும்பம் சீனர்கள் நிலம் வேண்டக்கூடிய வசதிகளை செய்து கொடுத்துள்ளது.

ஏழு பில்லியன் ஏற்றுமதிகளில் ஒரு வீதமே சீனாவுக்கு செல்கிறது. அதேவேளை சீனா இறக்குமதியில் இரண்டாவது இடத்தில் உள்ளது, அதாவது சிங்கள பணம் கூடுதலாக சீனாவுக்கு செல்கிறது. மே 2011 வரையான காலம் வரையில் 1337 சீனர்கள் உல்லாசப்பிரயாணிகளாக வந்துள்ளனர். இது 2 வீதமே, மொத்தம் 48,000. வேலை தேடி அதிகளவில் மத்திய கிழக்கிற்கே மக்கள் செல்கிறனர். ஒருவர் மட்டுமே சீனா சென்றுள்ளார் இந்த ஆண்டில்.15000- 20000 மாணவர்கள் மேற்குலக நாடுகளில் கல்வி கற்கின்றனர்.

மொத்தத்தில் மக்களுக்கு சீன உறவால் எந்த இலாபமும் இல்லை, எல்லாம் மகிந்த குடும்பத்திற்கே. ஆபிரிக்காவில் இருந்து ஆசியா வரை சீன முதலீடுகள் தமது நலன்களையே குறிக்கோளாக கொண்டுள்ளன.

Chinese Colonialism

Are you in the government? Are you in the Rajapaksa family? If not, then the Chinese government is probably no great friend to you.

The Chinese government’s relationship is state to state, not person to person. It is important to remember this, and doubly important to remember that you, unlike Louis XIV or Mahinda VI, are not the state.

The Chinese are building ports, infrastructure and public spaces. Remember who did that last time? It was the British. The British colonial regime built roads, railways, infrastructure and the artificial port of Colombo. They imported docile labourers from India and paid off Sri Lankan elites to serve the regime. They also introduced legislation to allow for the outright sale of land.

What’s happening today? The Chinese are loaning money for road and rail projects in the north. They’re also giving loans for power and infrastructure and they built the artificial port of Hambantota. They import cheap Chinese labor, or deport their own prisoners as forced labor. In the process, they have bought off the Rajapaksa family with arms and funds. That family is now introducing legislation to allow foreigners to buy land outright and has already sold land near the Galle Face Green to a former arms supplier.

There is no doubt that the British pillaged the country and poisoned race relations. The price for casting off that colonial hangover, however, seems to be another stiff drink from the same wretched quaff.

That colonialism consisted of Sri Lankas elite’s selling off the country’s resources to make the British Empire colossally wealthy and secure. Chinese colonialism consists of the Rajapaksa family selling off Sri Lanka’s resources with the added innovation of doing most of it through loans, thus making Sri Lankan taxpayers foot the bill for their own subjugation.

Think about it. Is the Chinese government a friend of Sri Lanka, or a friend of the family? What benefits Sri Lankans directly is human-to-human contact, be it trade, tourism or immigration, on those counts, how does China stack up.

Sri Lanka’s main export partners are the US, Europe and India. Around 1% of an estimated $7 billion USD in exports are to China. China is our second biggest import partner, so they make money off of us. Our people don’t really make money off of them.

Most of Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals come from India and Europe. Around 2% of an estimated 48,000 tourists in May 2011 were from China. That’s 1,337 people.

Most Sri Lankans working abroad go to the Middle East. According to 2008 data from statistics.gov, one (1) person migrated to China that year.

Most Sri Lankans studying abroad go to Australia, UK, the US or Canada. Up to 15-20,000 Sri Lankans study abroad. In 2008, by Australian estimates, 24% of Sri Lankan students went there. Chinese numbers are unclear. Each year the Chinese government offers 104 scholarships, but it is not yet a major education destination.

So, by all the counts that matter to the Sri Lankan people, China is not our number one friend or partner. But they are number one to the ruling family.

Thus, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s cosy relationship with the Chinese serves his interests much more than the nation’s. He’s turning against the nations that provide business for Sri Lankans, business that puts food on the table. He’s turning against the nations that come and visit us, providing livelihoods for thousands and human connection for more. He’s also turning against the places where ministers and ordinary people try to get visas to study or work.

Make no mistake, Mahinda Rajapaksa is selling out the country to the Chinese to enrich himself and his family. The infrastructure is needed, but the loans and debt are not. And the Sri Lankan people would be wise to question the intentions of the people giving us ‘free money’. From Africa to Asia, the Chinese have shown no compunction about destroying foreign environments or lives to further their own interests. They simply pay off elites and take what they need. And they don’t really need you.

So, welcome to your new colonial masters, and enjoy the new infrastructure. The British built our Town Hall. Now the Chinese have given us a Performing Arts Center a few blocks away.

http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/07/03/chinese-colonialism/

இன்று என்ன நடக்கின்றது? சீனா பல திட்டங்களில் பல கோடி ரூபாய்களை முதலீடு செய்துள்ளது, தனது கைதிகள் உட்பட்ட தொழிலாளர்களை இலங்கைக்கு கொண்டுவந்துள்ளது, ஆயுதங்கள் விற்றதன் மூலமும் பணம் மூலமும் இராசபக்சே குடும்பத்தை வாங்கியுள்ளது. இராசபக்சே குடும்பம் சீனர்கள் நிலம் வேண்டக்கூடிய வசதிகளை செய்து கொடுத்துள்ளது.

இறையாண்மை, இறையாண்மை எனக் கத்திய சிங்களம் இன்று தன்னையறியாமலே இறையாண்மை என்ற துகிலைச் சீனா உரிய ஒன்றும் செய்யவியலாமல் அதைப் பார்த்துக் கொண்டு நிற்கின்றது!

சிங்களம் அம்மணமாகும் நாள் வெகு தூரத்தில் இல்லை!!!

Edited July 3, 201114 yr by புங்கையூரன்

அமெரிக்காவை புறந்தள்ளி சீனாவை அரவணைக்க முடியுமா?

(சாராம்சம்)

இராசபக்சே குடும்பத்தை அவர்கள் ஒரு பலவீனமான நிலையில் இருந்த பொழுது சீனா, மேற்குலகம் கொடுக்க மறுத்த ஆயுதங்களையும் பின்னர் பணத்தையும் கொடுத்து ஆழமாக தனது கால்களை பதித்துள்ளது. எவ்வளவு அது கடன் கொடுத்துள்ளது என்பதோ இல்லை எவ்வளவு வட்டி சீனாவுக்கு மக்கள் கட்டுகிறார்கள் என்பதோ வெளிப்படையாக சொல்லப்படுவதில்லை.

அதேவேளை அதிகரித்து வரும் போர்குற்ற நெருக்குவாரங்கள் (பிரித்தானியா / அமெரிக்கா கோரிக்கைகள்) மகிந்தா குடும்பத்தை வீட்டோ அதிகாரம் வைத்திருக்கும் சீனா/உருசியா பக்கம் சாய வைத்துள்ளது. இன்றைய உலகின் ஒரே வல்லரசான அமெரிக்காவை சீனா மட்டுமே சவால் விடும் அளவில் உள்ளது. அது இன்று இரண்டாம் இடத்தில் பொருளாதார வலு உள்ள நாடாக இருக்கின்றது ஆனால் அது முலாம் இடத்திற்கு வரும் என பலரும் எதிர்பார்கின்றனர். இவ்வாறு தான் ஜப்பானும் எதிர்வுகூறப்பட்டது, எனவே இவற்றை அறுதியாக கூறமுடியாது.

இன்று இலங்கையின் ஏற்றுமதியில் ஐம்பது வீதம் மேற்குலத்திற்கே செல்கின்றது. எனவே அவர்களை எதிர்த்து சீனாவின் பக்கம் செல்வது ஒரு ஆரோக்கியமான முடிவா எனவும் வினவப்படுகின்றது. அதேவேளை முன்பு இருந்த ஜெயவர்த்தன, சந்திரிகா போன்றோருடன் இராசபக்சேயின் இராசதந்திரமும் வினவப்படுகின்றது.

CAN SRI LANKA DITCH AMERICA AND EMBRACE CHINA?

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa went into warm embraces with Presidents Hu Jintao of China and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia at the St Petersburg International Economic Conference last month but there were only brickbats for Rajapaksa from British political leaders such as David Cameron and the US State Department during the same period.

The Russian and Chinese leaders had assured the Sri Lankan president of their backing against attempts by the UN, which is strongly urged by leading western nations such as the United States and Britain, to compel Sri Lanka to probe alleged war crimes by its armed forces.

On Wednesday the US State Department urged the Sri Lankan government to ‘quickly address allegations of war crimes and ‘demonstrate that it is able and willing to meet these obligations as it seeks reconciliation’. If Sri Lankans do not do this there will be ‘growing pressure from the international community to examine other options’ the State Department had said.

While the issue of whether the United States and its allies have the moral right or the right under international law to make such demands on a sovereign state has been questioned before and will no doubt be reiterated, it also appears to mark a point of departure in foreign policy of Sri Lanka and the West.

Sri Lanka in Shanghai Organisation

Russian and Chinese leaders arrived at St. Petersburg soon after the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Astana, Kazakhstan. The SCO comprises six former Soviet Union republics and China and Russia and is a security organisation for the Central Asian region. Sri Lanka had been given observer status in the Shanghai Corporation (SCO) – a development unknown to most Sri Lankans! The other countries that had sought observer status earlier and been granted their request were: India, Pakistan, Iran and Mongolia. While these countries seeking observer status in this security organisation for Central Asia because of their proximity can be appreciated, Sri Lanka’s attempt – in the warm Indian Ocean far away from desolate Central Asia – could be explained by its desire to get into the China orbit.

This development in addition to the wide publicity given to Chinese and Russian assurances to Sri Lanka at St. Petersburg quite in contrast to the hostile attitude of Western nations accentuated Sri Lanka’s drift away from the West towards the rival powers: China and Russia.

Rajapaksa diplomacy

There are many reasons for the West to lock horns with Mahinda Rajapaksa one of which is his lack of diplomacy. J. R. Jayewardene, it will be recalled was in the dog house after the 1983 riots, being accused of genocide by Indira Gandhi, the then Indian Prime Minister and later her son Rajiv. Not one country was willing to raise a finger to help him, he confessed after the riots. But he continued to receive western assistance for his massive Mahaweli projects and Japanese assistance to build the spanking new city of Jayawardanapura with a parliament, a modern hospital and many other projects. When America imposed a ban on the sale of armaments to Sri Lanka, an Israeli Interests Section was opened in the American Embassy in Colombo which supplied armaments and even provided Israeli military training to our military!

Then Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and President Chandrika Kumaratunga were also able with their diplomacy to convince western leaders that the LTTE were terrorists and abducting children and had the organisation banned in most western countries.

Kicking out of Co-chairs

Rajapaksa’s diplomacy took off on the wrong foot with the kicking out of the four powerful Co-chairs who were directing negotiations with the LTTE. He was correct in getting rid of them because they believed in a negotiated settlement with the LTTE when it was quite clear that the ‘sun god’ had no such intention. But he was no Kadirgamar and had no Kadirgamar to maintain good relations with the Co-chairs while changing strategy. It appears that this was the beginning of stormy relations with the West.

Enter China

The only tangible reason for western antagonism appears to be China. China is the sole challenger of the sole remaining superpower in the western world. Rajapaksa is obliged to China for supplying the massive flow of armaments without which his victory over the LTTE would not have been.

China caught Rajapaksa at a weak moment. Rajapaksa was being criticized very strongly by the West for violations of human rights much before the war crimes charges were made. He was very much obliged to China for the supply of armaments which the West refused. These were on loans which Sri Lanka will have to repay over many years. The people are not aware of the expenditure incurred or the interest payable.

Little wonder the Freedom of Information Act has been declared non-essential!

China for the past two years has been granting million and billion dollar loans which are hard to keep count of. There is the $ 1.5 billion flagship Hambantota Development Zone loan which Prof. Swaran Singh at the Jawarhalal Nehru University had commented on, to online edition World Politics Review last week. This project, he says, has strategic implications although ‘it is being touted as a commercial venture’. Sri Lanka depends on China for support against the allegations on war crimes although China boasts that this assistance ‘has no strings attached’, the professor pointed out. There is a $ 500 million housing loan and a $ 891 million loan for Coal power expansion and more than $ 3 billion pledged for infrastructure loans.

Second biggest economy

With China now said to be the second biggest economy next to the United States and expected to overtake it in few years, the thinking among many is that soon China will replace the United States as the No 1 economy. This thinking is common in this country after recent confrontations with the West. But could China replace the US and other Western nations in trade and other economic matters?

It has been pointed out that the United States still is the biggest trading partner of Sri Lanka, importing 22.1 per cent of Sri Lanka’s exports ($ 1.7 billion in 2010) while Britain took in 12.1 per cent, Germany 5.2 per cent, Belgium 4.9 per cent and Italy 4.8 percent while India accounted for only 4.5 percent. The question is: can Sri Lanka afford to lose a near 50 per cent of its export market.

China’s convulsions

The basis for the presumption of China overtaking the US economy and becoming the World’s No 1 is on basis that China’s economic and political progress will continue undisturbed. But the economies and politics of all countries are subject to sudden changes that are not anticipated. A decade and a half ago the thinking was that the burgeoning Japanese economy will be able to swallow up America. Some of the biggest American companies were threatened with the take over by Japanese multinationals. But Japan’s economy is now in the doldrums struggling to breakthrough.

Unexpected political changes in China have taken place even after the communist takeover with convulsing effects. There was the Cultural Revolution during Mao’s lifetime that stood China on its head. Deng Xiao Ping then shifted on to a capitalist system but under rigid communist control that made China’s economy boom and this prosperity is continuing. China’s rapid economic recovery from the Global Financial crisis while the West is still mired in it, has given the Chinese added confidence. But its leaders are sill apprehensive about future developments. The Tiananmen Square protest that erupted in 1989 was the tip of the iceberg of youth dissatisfaction with the communist regime. China put it down with brutal force.

Western commentators note that while most Chinese are quite confident about China’s future, not so their leadership.

Apprehensive leadership

Wen Jiabo the Chinese prime Minister during his visit to London last week admitted some of China’s weaknesses. In his address to the Royal Society he said: ‘Corruption, unfair income distribution and other ills that harm people’s interests still exist in China. He had also said: ‘Without freedom there can be no real democracy and without guarantee of economic and political rights there can be no real political freedom’. While warning the British to stop ‘finger pointing over human rights’ in their discussions with China, he had also said that there was no strategic conflict with Britain and that ‘common interests outweigh differences’

The Economist in a special report on China in its latest issue states: ‘China’s leaders are more cautious than either underlings or the state controlled publishing industry. They avoid the term ‘China model’ and do not boast of Shenshi (age of prosperity).They appear to be more nervous now than anytime, more than over a decade. They have massively increased spending on domestic security which in this year’s budget has overtaken that on defence for the first time. The government has been reviving a Maoist system of neighbourhood surveillance by civilian volunteers. In the past few months the police have launched an all out assault on civil society arresting dozens of lawyers, NGO activists, bloggers and even artists. The Arab revolutions have spooked the leadership. From that perspective the system looks vulnerable’.

New leadership

Another reason for apprehension by the leadership is that next year in October the Communist Party will hold its national congress after which the biggest reshuffle in a decade of China’s leadership will take place. President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabo will step down and a younger generation will begin the take over. The last congress in 2002 passed over without an incident but earlier events such as in 1976 triggered off a coup.

Speculation about a new leadership centers around Bo Xilai and Xi Jin Ping, both sons of Chinese veterans of the Long March. Whether they would bring in radical changes or proceed with a smooth transition of power will not only be of concern for China but the world at large.

http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/07/03/can-sri-lanka-ditch-america-and-embrace-china/