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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Remember this when Beijing boasts about its 'win-win' African parternships |
| 2012-08-06 |
| Zambian miners crush a Chinese manager to death Suppose a manager of a British mining company picked up a gun and opened fire on his African workforce? What if the company concerned paid its Zambian miners less than the legal minimum wage? Suppose relations on the shop floor became so poisonous that furious workers chose to crush a manager to death? If a British-based mining house like Anglo American or Rio Tinto had experienced any of this, I strongly suspect that popular protest would have overwhelmed the company concerned, sending its share price into free-fall and casting its very future into doubt. Yet all of the above has happened at a Chinese-owned mine in Zambia. When workers at Collum coal mine protested about poor wages and working conditions in 2010, their Chinese managers responded by opening fire with live rounds. In fairness, they were not shooting to kill: no one actually died, but 11 of the miners suffered bullet wounds. The Chinese argued they were acting in self defence, and Beijing made clear that should charges be pressed against them, bilateral relations would suffer. Zambia, unable to stand up to its biggest foreign investor, duly caved in: no criminal case was ever brought against the managers. This year, protests at Collum have continued, spurred by the fact that its Chinese owners pay their employees less than the national minimum wage for shopworkers. On Saturday, the miners crushed a 50-year-old Chinese manager to death with a trolley. So the next time you next read of a multi-billion dollar deal between China and a poor African country, think of what has happened at Collum mine. |
| Posted by: |
| #9 50 years ago, Zambia and South Korea had similar GDP per capita. Today, Zambia and Korea have similar GDP per capita. Only today, the Korea in question is ruled by a |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2012-08-06 23:38 |
| #8 Apparently 60-plus years of Communism has caused Chinese companies to demand in cash + hoard their $$$ to the point of violence??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-08-06 20:39 |
| #7 Still better than the Belgians. In fairness, they were not shooting to kill: no one actually died, but 11 of the miners suffered bullet wounds. Uh-huh. Sure. "They weren't trying to hit anyone". |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2012-08-06 20:30 |
| #6 "Western" empire building doesn't look so bad now, huh? |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2012-08-06 19:32 |
| #5 Lebensraum, grom, lebensraum. |
| Posted by: Tarzan Spairt4671 2012-08-06 18:48 |
| #4 The main (long term) difference between the current Chinese colonization of Africa and the old European colonization, is that Chinese don't actually need the locals for labor force. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-08-06 13:40 |
| #3 The Zambian miners on the Copperbelt have for a long time hated their Chinese overlords. They were seriously miffed when Chinese prisoners were sent to Zambia to labour gratis on the mines. Yep and what did the local population get out of it? Probably not even a pair of plastic flip-flops. I don't blame them and, dare I say it, hope to see more of this, the Chinese deserve a good hiding just for what they're doing there. |
| Posted by: Tarzan Spairt4671 2012-08-06 13:08 |
| #2 Heart of Darkness, Part Two. Did the Chinese pick up the site managers' manual from Leopold II of Belgium? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-08-06 10:55 |
| #1 Smashing story! More please. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-08-06 09:55 |