- MENU
- HOME
- SEARCH
- WORLD
- MAIN
- AFRICA
- ASIA
- BALKANS
- EUROPE
- LATIN AMERICA
- MIDDLE EAST
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Benelux
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Poland
- Russia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Taiwan
- Turkey
- USA
- BUSINESS
- WEALTH
- STOCKS
- TECH
- HEALTH
- LIFESTYLE
- ENTERTAINMENT
- SPORTS
- RSS
- iHaveNet.com
Andres Oppenheimer
If China wants to be a well-respected world power, it should be a better global citizen.
That's the first thing that came to my mind when I read the results of the
Overall, the much-awaited
The United States pledged
(I'm not including Venezuela's grandiose announcement that it was offering
By comparison, China pledged
AN UNFAMILIAR LAND
Part of the reason behind China's minuscule contribution may be that China and Haiti don't have diplomatic ties. But then, the absence of diplomatic relations hasn't prevented China from having a more than 200-person peacekeeping force in Haiti, which included eight soldiers who died during the Haiti earthquake.
"This is the worst recorded natural disaster in history in terms of lives lost; there's no way that you can say that
Judging from what I hear from diplomats and relief-organization officials, China hasn't been very generous with Chile, either, after that country's
R. Evan Ellis, a professor at
Chinese companies in Latin America have often run into problems with local environmental and labor laws, in part because they are not used to respecting the same rules inside China, he said. "In terms of corporate responsibility, Chinese companies are today where U.S. companies were half a century ago, he added.
In addition, China is buying huge quantities of Latin American raw materials -- its imports from the region soared from
THE TIME HAS COME
My opinion: China's explosive growth in recent years has been a godsend for Latin America, especially South America's raw-material exporting countries. So when Hu visits Brazil, Venezuela and Chile on
But he should be reminded that China has already become one of Latin America's top economic partners, and that it can't pretend to be a major world power when it's in its own interest and as a far-away developing country when it's not. It's time for China to try to earn other countries' respect as a trusted partner and a good global citizen, like other big countries do.
WORLD | AFRICA | ASIA | EUROPE | LATIN AMERICA | MIDDLE EAST | UNITED STATES | ECONOMICS | EDUCATION | ENVIRONMENT | FOREIGN POLICY | POLITICS
Latin America: China Should Be Ashamed of Its Aid to Haiti | Latin America