Headline May 11,2012/Magic and Mystery

MYSTERY AND MAGIC

Respectful Dedication Greenpeace

In 2006, a thick grey black cloud from northern China hit America’s west coast. Scientists monitoring air quality at lake Tahoe in California said the noxious cloud of soot and poisonous chemicals were the dirtiest they had seen outside urban areas.

China’s waterways are equally prone to ecological damage, and the water supplies to major cities have been cut off on more than one occasion after industrial spillages. Meanwhile, Green Peace has claimed that there are “a thousand Bhopals all over India!!” And has identified a number of toxic ‘hotspots’.

But on the cheery side, Beijing has become an architects playground. Lord Foster’s new international airport is bigger than Heathrow, and capable of handling over 53 million passengers a year, while Rem Koolhaas’s new headquarters for China Central Tv has been described by Business Week as “skyscraper tumbling into a somersault”.

The Olympic Stadium itself, like a giant bird’s nest, is truly an architectural wonder of the world but the city’s legendary smog which rises up like a grey-yellow mist in the early morning is one miserable desperation. So obviously, during the Olympic games, the authorities ordered the shutdown of factories for the duration of the games and the removal of the street of Beijing’s over 2 million cars. And the capital’s citizens, were exhorted to be on their best behaviour , and warned that etiquette precludes them from wearing pajamas in ‘public areas’.

History knows that economic power goes with political clout. Will China use its growing influence and go for cold war with the west. The National intelligence council continues to pose this question:

"Will China and India exercise their growing power, and whatever they relate cooperatively to the other powers in the international system. Or will the regional disputes spill over into something dangerous??"

But for sure China will not retreat into isolationism!! Nor is it going to risk the stability of global economy, given its own interdependence with the rest of the world.

The USSR has an interest in the collapse of Capitalism; China does not. That does not in any way mean that China will be a meek partner. Already in dealings with the US, China has shown its strength and vision.

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