“Veni, vidi, vici” – “I came, saw and
conquered”
Last week,
the Dutch King Willem Alexander has made an official state visit to China,
after he already enjoyed an unofficial, short holiday with his family in
this country.
With this
official visit and especially with the short, unofficial, but nevertheless telling private holiday, Willem Alexander
emphasized the warm and mutually beneficial commercial relations between The
Netherlands and China, the powerful, economic behemoth in the Far East. China
is by far the largest exporter of (cheap) consumption goods and The Netherlands
is host to Rotterdam, still the most important sea-port in Europe for container
handling.
In other
words: China needs the enormous sea-port, as well as the logistical experience and the excellent networks of The
Netherlands and The Netherlands needs the constant influx of goods from China,
in order to keep its logistical apparatus in motion throughout the year.
And as a
part of this official visit, the Dutch business industry organized the biggest
trade mission in Dutch history, with over 250 participants from 150 different
companies and organizations. Their mission was to put their products and
services in the spotlights, sign as many trade orders as possible and reinforce the bonds with their Chinese counterparts: customers, suppliers and the Chinese government.
Both sides –
China and The Netherlands – had the sole interest of making the state visit a
blatant success, with a lot of happy smiles, large words of praise and mutual
satisfaction and wallets full of promises, contracts and orders for all
participants in the trade mission. Nothing in the world should get the chance to spoil the
party that this state visit ought to be.
Where Prince
Charles of the United Kingdom had made a strong statement, by refusing to participate in the official state banquet for China offered by the British government,
the Dutch King made an equally strong statement, with respect to China. He did
so by spending his private holiday in this country too, apart from the state
visit. That is a gesture that will not be lightly forgotten by the Chinese
government.
There was no
room for criticism of China, apart from a number of obligatory and further meaningless
words by the King about human rights and some other things bothering the Dutch.
“These were the mandatory parts of the visit, in order to keep the folks at home
happy. Well, you know the drill… And now: back to business! We are the best and let’s
forget the rest!”.
To call this
generally uncritical behaviour of the Dutch “a missed opportunity”, is an
understatement. As a matter of fact, it is a strong signal that trade interests
come before everything else in The Netherlands, even where this should not be the
case. Although the Chinese citizens often are proud about the achievements of
their country (and rightfully so) and the increasing role of the country at the
global stage, their daily lives generally leave a lot to be desired.
Of course, China
has had a troubled past with respect to human rights and the political treatment
of minorities and – as a matter of fact – its whole (rural) middle class and
lower class population.
People, who
go with the flow and exactly say and do what the political leaders want to hear and see,
usually lead a decent and tranquil live, when they are lucky and nothing bad happens to them. However, people who have good reasons
to disagree with the will of their leaders, are often in for a very rough
treatment by the central and local governments: a treatment trademarked by harsh
punishments and political suppression.
The
ubiquitous corruption, environmental challenges, the sometimes questionable
quality of even the most basic, daily foodstuffs and drinking water and the
generally failing state of law and order in China pose a problem for many, many people
in their daily struggle for survival. The mounting ego, self-satisfaction and deafness for criticism of their political leaders at all levels is another
issue of concern, as well as the bulldozer-esque manner in which disputes between the government and the population are solved.
Summarized, the Chinese government is not always the government that the Chinese people deserve, to say the least. And that is not all...
The foreign policy of China is increasingly aggressive and imperialistical, as it zealously wants to proof this country’s increasingly important role on the global
economic and political stage: you could call this the Chinese sledgehammer policy.
China has
increased its influence on the African continent and in South-America, by
buying their way into the hearts and minds of African and South-American leaders.
In exchange for trade contracts and unlimited access to all kinds of fuels,
commodities, precious metals, food and minerals, the Chinese build roads and
other infrastructural parts, which help the African and American leaders, as well as themselves in the process.
While this
is at least in the interest of some of their “beneficiaries”, the Chinese
foreign (or domestic) policy is not so friendly everywhere. Remember for instance the troubled past of Taiwan, Tibet and the Uighur minorities in China.
The most
blatant example of the current expansionist policies of China are the Spratly Islands in
the South Chinese Sea. These “Islands” traditionally led a quiet live as reefs
without strategic meaning; that was at least, until people discovered that the sea surrounding the Spratlys was laden with consumable fish and further contained large oil
supplies.
Then the
Chinese came, saw and conquered…
 |
| Position of Spratly Islands in the South Chinese sea Picture courtesy of Google Maps Click to enlarge |
Even though
the Spratly reefs are much closer to countries like Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia
and the Philippines, like the picture above shows clearly, China nevertheless ran the gauntlet with their territorial aspirations. The country asked dredging companies to
create a number of artificial islands, by wading sand upon the vacant reefs and thus
the Spratly Islands were born.
After their creation,
these islands were filled with landing strips for planes and a few odd
buildings as well as some additional infrastructure and they were subsequently
claimed by the Chinese government. Everybody, who came too close to the islands
was “politely asked” to get the hell out of there, or else…
Some small,
Philippino fishermen saw their boat and only source of income attacked by Chinese ships and war vessels, who did not want competition in their newly
acquired territory and did not scare away from using brute force against those "intruders".
Countries,
like the Philippines and Vietnam, started international arbitrage procedures
against the Chinese government (among others in the Dutch City of International
Justice, The Hague) for wheedling the Spratlys away from the other Asian
countries. However, the Chinese government told them to “get lost”, by stating that
they would not accept any verdict by the International Court of Justice and by claiming that this court was working far beyond its jurisdiction, by accepting this
case.
And now the
latest leg in this increasingly dangerous international crisis, around these
small islands in the South Chinese Sea, is started by the arrival of an
American war vessel at the Spratlys. This ship is sent by the United States,
in order to let the Chinese sing a different tune to the American allies The
Philippines and Vietnam. On top of that, this war vessel must probably be seen as the
front-runner of an emerging American fleet in the region.
The signal, emitted by the US war vessel, has been very well heard by 'Beijing'…
However,
instead of acting as a means to hush up the tensions and settle the emerged
differences in order to prevent from an international confrontation, the opposite happened. Currently, the Chinese are threatening the US at an increasingly shrill tone
of voice. Their claim upon the Spratly Islands is final and the Chinese are willing
to defend their claim, using lethal force against anyone else in the world:
even the United States.
This is a
very dangerous development indeed and it should wake up the Dutch government from its gold-plated dreams about trade and prosperity. The events around the Spratly Islands prove very clearly that all the current political certainties and economic agreements in the world can disappear at very
short notice, as a consequence of the mounting imperialist aspirations of the Chinese
government. And although I’m not particularly pessimistic that the events
around the Spratlys might lead to a very large and uncontrollable war, it is
an undeniable fact that China is not planning to give in to their neighbours,
as well as to the United States.
Within the
Dutch government, however, and in their trail the Royal House of Orange, this crystal-clear message seems to have fallen upon deaf ears. And, as a matter of fact, it also
fell upon deaf ears within the British government, which was also very eager to
negotiate itself into one lucrative contract after another with the Chinese
government.
Except, of
course, for that “stubborn old fool” Prince Charles who did not want to show a toothpaste smile at the Chinese leaders, in exchange for some contracts and cash ...
But heck, who is
Prince Charles anyway?! He will probably never be king after all, and his son
William seems to already have more diplomatic skills than his aging father, in
spite of his young age…
Nevertheless,
I find it an unwise attitude of the Dutch royal house, government and business
industry to close their eyes for the imperialist aspirations of the Chinese leaders.
Just like they so often closed their eyes in the past for the reprehensible
sides of other large Dutch business partners in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, Oman and other countries.
While the Dutch
King speaks his soothing and swollen words of peace and friendship and
emphasizes the role of business as a means for communication, development and
mutual prosperity to his benevolent Chinese listeners, the Chinese government
is fighting a pruning hard battle for the absolute power in their region and
far, far beyond.
Not even to
speak about the enduring domestic battle against the unwilling elements within the
Chinese population, who stand up for their rights and reject the almighty
government of President Xi Jinping and PM Li Keqiang. Often, while risking
their own lives and the lives and future of their families.
The Dutch
King, however, does not care about that… He is back home safely, among his
family and friends, satisfied with a job very well done. And so are the Dutch
government and business representatives.
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