Posted by alexandra_k on March 2, 2020, at 3:21:43
I go to the library and I read some papers from around the world.
I see Chinese newspapers - in translation, of course.
And I feel bad that the world doesn't know what is happening in China because the world didn't bother to invest in speaking Chinese and thus is serves us right.
So we see the 'united front' that China presents about how they have everything under control.
And what else are they supposed to present to the developed world?
And so they are criticised for it...
But what ya gonna do?
I am remembering some quote I quoted in my thesis from somebody... Somebody who knows, presumably, or maybe I just liked what they said and hoped they knew. Felt they were more qualified than me.
They were saying about economic revolutions in recent times. About how economic revolutions have come about my countries (e.g., Japan) protecting their local economies behind tarrifs and other barriers to free trade.
And I have been thinking about the economic impact of the Corona virus.
1) New Zealand relies on tourism a lot. New Zealand relies on educational tourism a lot. International Students. New Zealand relies on International Students from China, a lot. New Zealand treats those students like sh*t when they arrive. New Zealand does not teach them English well when we market we will do that in fact. New Zealand does not send New Zealand students to China to learn Chinese and become educated in China.
2) A lot of Chinese studnets aren't coming to New Zealand because the Universities will not (cannot) offer them self contained accommodation so they can self-isolate for 2 weeks on arrival. They are forced to live communally only without access to private bathroom / food preparation facilities. So... They aren't coming.
I wonder if the Coronavirus is a way of China protecting it's own people.
And (I feel bad about this) trying to teach Hong Kong a lesson in how it's economy is fragile without the backing of the Chinese Government. I don't know how much that may or may not be true. I don't know how much the Hong Kong economy was based on the 'finance, insurance, real estate' bubble of New York... The collapse.. I don't know how much a collapse of the Hong Kong economy is inevitable as much as the collapse of the Auckland housing bubble (just following what happened in the US however many years behind)... I don't know how much Hong Kong independence is a pipe dream like AUckland independence would be vs how much China simply won't let it go / won't grant it it's deseved freedom...
I just don't know.
But many deficiencies in NZ have been revealed.
We don't have temperature scanning in our air ports.
We needed to test a 'gift case' 3 times before we managed to find the freaking corona virus in him. ffs. And we still haven't managed to contact the people in the 2 rows before and behind him on the freaking aeroplane several days later.
ffs.
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1108749
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20191212/msgs/1108749.html