Sino- is a prefix that we get from Latin, Arabic and Sanskrit. In all three of these classical languages it refers to the land of the rising sun. In Latin they were referred to as Sinae, the Arabs call them Al-Sin and for the Sanskrit it is Cina. The prefix was quite the vogue in the cold war years when we would often read of Sino-Soviet, Sino-Cuban or Sino-Korean (DR) relations. It’s funny how we do not come across it that much now – nowadays we are more prone to read something like “Chinafication” which is the title of a new facebook group arguing against the growing influence of China in Maltese matters.
Cargolux is an important Luxembourg company that deals with air freight and traffic in Luxembourg. Back in 1982 (The Dark Ages when the Wall was still in place) China Airlines became one of the first strategic partners of CargoLux. In 2014 Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment, a Chinese company, acquired a 35% stake in Cargolux. A strategically important company for Luxembourg was now 1/3 China owned (read all about Cargolux here).
Chinese investment is not limited to the Grand Duchy. Sino-funds are being invested all across the globe. It’s all about business and money. It should be. It’s not about “Chinafication”. Prior to the Chinese there were petro-dollars that were an easy investment. The US and Russia too were previously the source of much foreign investment. So when is Chinafication wrong?
Well the problem with Sino-Maltese relations is the lack of transparency. Complete, absolute, total lack of transparency. The Labour government very evidently struck some strange deals with Chinese counterparts before it got elected. Now, the nation that has its Cultural Centre bang behind Castille and that has just purchased a huge chunk of land at a very cheap price seems to have its finger in almost every pie (or iced bun) that the Labour party got its hands onto when it got into government.
The Leisure Clothing scandal as chronicled elsewhere in the nationalist party media is a clear example of the wrong kind of “investment” turning foul. It’s less sino- and much more sinful. While other nations are striking smart deals with China taking advantage of the liquidity that is on offer, Malta’s government turned the nation into one giant souk (that’s suq) in Maltese selling off such vital necessities as our main source of power without as much as a system of checks. Meanwhile our dealings with the Chinese look shadier than ever. Minister Mizzi’s wife is being paid the same salary as an ambassador with the same conditions and yet we are still in the dark as to her operations.
Labour decided to turn into a pimp that is whoring the nation away to the darker side of China’s dealings. China is a behemoth, an enormous giant, and it would take little or nothing for Labour and its band of inept “diplomats” to have touched on a wrong, corrupt, vein that is unable to bring any possible benefits to Malta under than a hypothetical quick buck. Labour’s willingness to play along with the lack of transparency is shameful (though barely unpredictable giving the tune to which they have always played).
The problem is not Chinafication. The problem is that our dealings with China are being managed by incompetent, greedy persons who are unable to fathom the consequences of their hapless arrangements. Worse still, even if they did fathom the consequences they would not care less. Which is why they probably end up dealing with the wrong kind of Chinese and probably why their “bargains” are really a ticking time bomb that will explode in all our faces.
At our expense.
