October 11, 2004

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They both have red in their flags

Here's a quick lesson in realpolitik for you: President Jacques Chirac spends time finding broad consensus with his Chinese counterparts on many issues, including lifting the EU arms embargo. Not co-incidentally China Air orders a massive 26 Airbus airplanes, Airbus at the same time announced its intention to increase its purchasing in China, and Alstom of France announces contracts worth 1 billion Euros for trains to China.

That's a good investment, at the small cost of ignoring China's appalling human rights record. Liberty, equality, fraternity stops at the border.

posted by Simon on 10.11.04 at 09:37 AM in the




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Comments:

Could you clarify "trains to China?" Are they going to build a swift rail between France and China? Right now you have to take a train acrosss Russia and through eastern Europe to get to western Europe. It can take weeks. I was wondering if an improvement might be in the works with this.
And more to your point:
Ever since NAFTA, no nation to my knowledge has made any humanitarian requirements for trade partnership. It might have been the case before as well, but that's when I began to pay attention to it. Money speaks.

posted by: Ellen Sander on 10.11.04 at 02:41 PM [permalink]




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