Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

58 Pitfalls and Pipelines: Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Industries
Hart-Landsberg concluded:
The Chinese government’s determination to sustain the
country’s export orientation means that it can do little to
respond positively to popular discontent. In fact, quite the
opposite is true. In the current period of global turbulence
the government finds itself pressured to pursue policies that
actually intensify social problems.
It’s still not certain that Beijing’s oligarchs have yet learned
this vital lesson, although there are indications that, at a local
government level, citizen’s actions against the depredations of
the minerals industry are beginning to succeed. 43
Is China Neo-colonialist in All But Name?
While some commentators have welcomed the unprecedented
spurt in mineral prices, triggered by Chinese
demand between 2001 and 2010, other observers are deeply
concerned about the negative effects of Chinese ventures
on the socio-economic health of smaller mineral-dependent
states (especially in Africa). Take, for example, Hanjing Xu
of Canadian mining company, Eldorado Gold. He told an investment
conference in March 2010 that: “[The Chinese] lack
an appreciation for community relations, worker health and
safety, and environmental protection.” 44
To what extent then have Chinese foreign mining ventures
corrupted politicians in their host countries, displaced
their internal labor forces, introduced lower operating standards,
and hazarded peoples’ livelihoods? Are these companies,
in effect, outsourcing social conflicts—ones often triggered by
mineral exploitation—partly in order to reduce the intensity
and spread of similar confrontations at home?
In November 2009, in an astute examination of Chinese
business practices in two vital African mineral producing countries
(DR Congo and Gabon), researchers from Stellenbosch
University dismissed the concept of a monolithic “Chinese