Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

Chapter 1.2: Financial Innovations and the Extractive Industries
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Inc.” that rigidly follows the central Communist Party line.
Instead, they claimed, mining companies from the Peoples
Republic of China have tried conforming to operational rules
set by overseas governments. They have dealt as best they can
with unfamiliar social and political norms.
Whether addressing issues of “transparency,” corruption,
relationships with workers, or cultural disparities, said the
researchers, Chinese firms have proved adaptable and quick
to learn from their hosts. They are not necessarily more prone
than other corporate players to taking or offering bribes.
Indeed, they are often at a disadvantage, compared with other
foreign companies, some of which have much more relentlessly
exploited the continent, and over a far longer period. 45
Following a similar theme, in May 2012 two non-Chinese
researchers also attempted demonstrating that China’s bilateral
engagements should be seen as “a positive-sum catalyst” for
African governments to further their own economies, diversify
their foreign relations, and achieve economic “freedom.” 46
No doubt some Chinese extractive companies have been attracted
to working offshore specifically in order to externalize
environmental and social costs, and thereby avoid the onus of
bearing them at home. But the extent of this “proxy pollution”
is often exaggerated. When environmental despoliation does
occur, it doesn’t necessarily result from a consciously-framed
political intent to “dump” on communities abroad. One of the
most notable instances of alleged damage is one said to have
been caused by the Metallurgical Construction Corporation
(MCC) in pursuance of its Ramu nickel operations in Papua
New Guinea. 47 In this case, the company’s intention to jettison
potentially toxic tailings into the sea is demonstrably unsound.
But it is not unique: Newmont employs a similar waste disposal
system at its huge Batu Hijau gold mine in Indonesia;
as does Barrick Gold at Porgera in Papua New Guinea itself.
If Professor Hart-Landsberg’s analysis is sound, the
Chinese leadership’s failure to resolve domestic political,
social and economic contradictions at home, will weigh more
heavily, and on far more poorer people, than any abdication
by Chinese companies from implementing better standards
abroad.