Trust a bunch of Mintoffians to persist in believing that there really is such a thing as a free lunch
The government, led by those two Mintoffians, the prime minister Joseph Muscat and his deputy Louis Grech, pulled a Chinese rabbit out of their hat the other day and told us that their Chinese rabbit would be giving us a Eur4 million study into a Malta/Gozo bridge ALL FOR FREE (yum yum) because of China’s special relationship with Malta and because this particular Chinese rabbit had built THE RED CHINA DOCK here in Malta back in the Golden Years of Dom.
Well, they didn’t call it ‘The Red China Dock’ in their press statement because, you know, it doesn’t sound….progressive and liberal. They called it by its new name, dock no. 6.
But believe me when I tell you, those of you who didn’t know already, that this is exactly what it was called in the days when Louis Grech and Joseph Muscat’s parents and Salvatur-chanting nanna were rooting assiduously for Dom Mintoff: THE RED CHINA DOCK.
From timesofmalta.com, this evening:
China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Limited, the company which is to conduct a feasibility study on the building of a Malta-Gozo bridge, had been blacklisted by the World Bank in 2011 for fraudulent practices in a roads project in The Philippines.
The Bank had at the time announced the debarment of the company and its subsidiaries making them ineligible to engage in any road and bridge projects financed by the World Bank Group until January 12, 2017.
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The Chinese company didn’t ask for anything in return. Except perhaps a power station.
The power station is in return for geo-political influence.
Of all the malicious choices done during the last 100 days, I find the one on the Gozo-Malta bridge the most scary, and not only because of the blacklist company or the permanent environment eyesore.
During the last few years, China has been exploiting countries, in particular African and neighbouring Asian countries.
In Africa, China is signing deals with the dictators/kings, etc to obtain exclusive rights to the countries’ natural resources for up to 100 years in return for practically nothing, except for a cut to the dictator/king in question and a grandiose infrastructure project – a stadium in Cameroon, airport in Congo, race track in Gabon, highways in Angola, tunnels in the mountains of ex-Soviet republics (around Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, etc).
China is present in almost every African country, including remote places like Sao Tome and Principe.
These poor countries are being exploited with practically no short-term or long-term benefits to their respective economies. They are forgoing future economic benefits from their natural resources (rights sold to China), for the meagre return of a huge infrastructural project, built by Chinese workers.
Given the mass internal migration of Chinese from the rural west to the urban east, the millions of Chinese migrants settling in Beijing are immediately rerouted to Africa as cheap labour to build these huge infrastructural projects in usually inhumane conditions.
Since the labour supply in China is practically unlimited, when Chinese workers die in Africa, they are immediately replaced with other workers. They are just a number. In Angola there was a revolt against these workers since the Angolans were not used to building the infrastructural highways.
Given that Malta does not have any apparent natural resources, one wonders what deal was negotiated between Muscat and the Chinese when he visited China and the Labour Party released the news that a deal had been signed.
Malta might obtain an eyesore bridge built for free, but what price will the economy pay in the long-term?
If Malta had a proper press, perhaps they would have been asking these questions. What hidden and long-term huge price will Malta pay? For how long will Malta be submissive and contracted to China for whatever deal has been struck?
Is it related to China’s expansionist military policy beyond Asia? Is it information-sharing on the western movements? Is it related to energy?
I am afraid that we will discover the real deal and cost only once it is too late – the same way we discovered about the military deal with Kim Il Sung’s North Korea and the financial deal with Gaddafi’s Libya in 1979.
You wait and see who will win the tender for the LNG Power station in Marsaxlokk.
Rice importers, and chicken farms should start thinking of increasing their stocks.
No Gahan, no need to do that. Wherever the Chinese go they take all the supplies that are needed to be self sufficient. Food, pre fab accommodation, doctors you name it. In other words the local economy doesn’t benefit at all. If anything it loses by having its finite natural resources plundered in return for a pittance and some grandiose edifice for a despot/dictator/corrupt regime.
Precarious jobs crusader Tony Zarb should be on the lookout for these cheap labourers from China on EU soil. They need a work permit and entry visa first.
Malta se tkun ta-Cinizi wkoll.
There’s no hope that Tony Zarb will ever mention precarious work where the Chinese are concerned.
He never opened his mouth against those businessmen who closed their factories in Malta, only to open them in China and elsewhere like Tunisia, because of cheap labour. And some of them are pampaluni Laburisti who were close to Joseph before the election.
Maryann, of course Zarb does not open his mouth, when one of the main factories to move to a cheap labour location was Bortex, owned by the husband of Ramona Frendo and whose Chairman is no other than Lino Spiteri.
The long-term price is political subordination. Malta will be rooting for China’s interests for at least the next 25 years. So what’s new?
Labour. The neo-colonialist party. That’s one slogan they didn’t sell to their willing victims.
An interesting and scary comment.
You omitted the China gas plants and the cooperation with Chinese universities.
To my knowledge the gas plants are second hand goods.
The best Chinese students tend to go to British or American universities. Who are these “students” who will be coming in their droves to Malta? Are these military? What?
Perhaps it will run deeper. Soon we might be seeing a deeper investment from China, perhaps in Mater Dei.
From an EU country to a Communist satellite – Mintoff’s dream.
There was a programme on CNN about a couple of weeks ago which highlighted the fact that China is buying large blocks of apartments in some countries in the West in order to accommodate its huge population.
Always known as ‘Red China Dock’, always will.
I am starting to doubt the EU referendum vote by the Maltese people. It seems that big projects will eventually go to our darling friends from red China.
The bridge should come with a large warning sign at both ends: ‘travel at your own risk’.
It would also be appropriate if it clearly shows the sign “Made in China.”
Reminds me of the time when the ancient Athenians struck a deal with the Persians for defence, fearing the might of Sparta.
All the Persians asked in return was a gift of earth and water.
To the logical Greeks this appeared to be simply a weird custom and they humoured them. Yet to the Persians the symbolism meant that Athens had submitted to Persian rule.
The eventual result, when the Greeks refused to submit, was the First Persian Invasion of Greece.
When dealing with different cultures, it’s easy to find that you have unwittingly agreed to certain things. Considering great leader Joseph probably fired all his bright diplomats, I hope we don’t find ourselves having to use the Chinese Renminbi any time soon.
Does this Chinese company (CCCC) have any connection with the Chinese company that is one of the international companies that are ‘bidding’ for the building of the power station?
Don’t be naive, China is ONE big communist state ruled by ONE party.
If the party thinks about something, consider it done.
You cannot do business with privately owned Chinese companies. You can only do business with the Democratic People’s Republic of China.
Does this Chinese company mentioned with regards the building of a bridge between Malta and Gozo (CCCC) have anything to do with the Chinese company mentioned in the list of international companies listed for the building of the power station?
Yes. They are both state-owned.
Yes. They are both state-owned by the Chinese Communist Government which happens to be on excellent terms with Malta’s Labour Party.
Another of Joseph’s promises reneged on. Didn’t he promise that he would be asking us for our opinions before embarking on a project? I wasn’t consulted about this deal? Were you?
What P Shaw has posted is horrific.
This should be a golden opportunity for the opposition to show its mettle and show up this deal.
Are all PL supporters so enamoured of the Movement that they are blinkered to what this deal could mean? Why have boards on National Feasts when our liberty could be at risk?
And while we are on the subject of China. Nothing to do with the subject or even Malta. But, Daphne permitting, I would like to take the opportunity of making an appeal to all of you animal lovers, which I trust will be the vast majority, to sign this petition. It is an appeal to the Chinese authorities to stop cruelty to dogs and cats in China. Please highlight the link and open in a new tab. It should work. Thank you.
http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AhPsd/zNPV/bGxmO
More and more China:
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-06-17/news/chinese-university-interested-in-forging-links-with-malta-minister-1843331074/
What is this sudden fetish the government has for China? Was is it in the electoral manifesto somewhere?
It was in it-Torca. Same difference.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/128130324/Joseph-Muscat-says-he-signed-an-agreement-with-China-on-Malta-s-behalf-it-Torca-18APR2010
It’s no sudden fetish. It is a long-time calculated policy.
When asking questions, always try to follow the money.
Don’t know how I missed that It-Torċa article.
I know the money always spelled out Labour’s pro-‘anti-Westerners’ policy, but the rate at which it is being transposed into national policy is rather alarming. They’re not even trying to introduce it by stealth; it’s been one Chinese-involved announcement after another this past couple of weeks.
All of this at a time when EU countries would like to retain some leverage on China (often for the sake of conditionality within agreeemtns for human rights) and/or improve the EU market’s standing by incentivising cross-border deals. And, of course, Labour want to go the other way and make Malta subservient to the Chinese instead. Ruddy Communists.
It was in the People’s Daily – how could you miss it?
Here in Malta, the Labour Party tried to hide this news, but the Chinese government was more transparent.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6944809.html
And it all started with the Terracotta Chinese Warriors exhibition pre 2008 election. You all missed its birth.
As far as I remember, the loan for the Red China Dock was not a normal loan. It was tied to the price of gold at the time. I wish somebody would verify.
My impression is that the amount loaned to Mintoff’s Malta was to be repaid after 25 years – only, however, on condition that the money received back by China at the end of the period would buy the same weight of gold that the loan could have bought when it was originally made (i.e. 25 years earlier).
One may well imagine by how much the price of gold had increased between the loan agreement and the eventual repayment.
I presume there are still people around who know what actually happened at the time.
Besides who will build a Gozo and Malta Malta, I have been asking myself many questions. One idea which I cannot come to terms with is the idea of having the potential contractor come up with a feasibility study for such a mega project.
Shouldn’t the feasibility study be done by the government itself, then after its reports, it issues RFPs?
Has anyone calculated the hypothetical driving time for someone from let’s say Gharb to drive his car to Malta, if this China bridge had to be built? Driving takes time, especially including traffic at ‘toll’ gate to pay bridge travel fees.
Will the bridge reduce commuting time or keep it the same, will it increase costs?
What about the running costs of the bridge, will the Gozitan residents be paying for it, or will they be subsidized for the sake of votes again.
If the referendum is decided by Gozitans’, then maintenance and management fees for it should be theirs too, right? I wonder how much of my hard earned taxes, will pay for this comfort for those who hold a Gozo residency.
The Red China Dock, a symbol of Sino-Maltese friendship:
http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zwjg/zwbd/t679048.htm
I am sure Reno Calleja will be very very happy, the Chinese are coming back.
Franco Debono dejjem jista’ jehodhom il-bahar la jispiccalu l-kuntratt li tah Muscat.
Seems like Reno Calleja is getting his iced bun covertly.
Excuse me but this government is the pits.
“Dr Muscat said a consultative council for the south will be set up shortly and revealed that the Parliamentary Secretary for Justice will be transferred under the Prime Minister’s portfolio to keep Home Affairs and Justice separate.”
Se ndumu nilghabu qabel nibdew niggvernaw?
Didn’t they have everything planned or is it only where the Chinese were concerned?
Justice PS to be transferred to OPM – Falzon is Commissioner Against Bureaucracy
Times of Malta
Another point to consider regarding this infamous agreement with the Chinese.
The Times of Malta reported that “The agreement was signed at the Office of the Prime Minister by Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech and Zhang Chanfu, vice president of CCCC”.
I question whether it was correct to say that Zhang ChangFu is the Vice President of the Company when the Company’s website states otherwise i.e. that he is not Vice President but Non-Executive Director.
The Senior Executive Team: http://en.ccccltd.cn/aboutcompany/themanagement/seniorexecutiveteam/
The Board: http://en.ccccltd.cn/aboutcompany/themanagement/theboard/
China is not interested in Malta per se, but in Malta as an integral part of the EU and in the political leverage that results therefrom.
China is interested in Malta in the same way that Gaddfi’s Libya was in the 70s. At that time, as the Rai TV hand puppet Rockefeller had so sussinctly put it, and much to the chagrin of the then comparatively slim-line Joe Grima, Malta was la Valletta di Gaddafi.
Muscat is following in Mintoff’s footsteps, this time turning Malta into a lackey of communist China in return for support to his already tottering regime.
http://www.maltastar.com/dart/20100116-joseph-muscat-meets-diplomatic-corps
Before closing his address, Dr Muscat explained how he is looking forward to discussing the possibilities of collaboration, especially in energy, tourism and education, between China and Malta as this is the way the Labour party wants to develop our attitude in foreign affairs: realistic but ambitious.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080331/opinion/tax-deadline.202249
The Chinese campaign on Tibet has taken an interesting development. The Chinese are now adopting a media campaign to neutralise another media campaign. In blogs, chat-rooms, bulletin boards and by SMS, Chinese citizens are assaulting the international press, exposing mistakes and depicting what they perceive as foreign manipulation.
One hopes that the matter will not lie to rest once the Olympic Games are over.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130115/elections-news/pn-must-shoulder-responsiblity-for-smartcity-jobs-failure-muscat.453303
A Labour government, he added, would also seek IT investment from China, Singapore and India.
http://mt.china-embassy.org/eng/zyxwdt/t902243.htm (Note Muscat’s reference to Malta, rather than to the Labour Party – while in opposition)
Malta is glad to see that China has always cherished the friendship between the two countries, Labor Party leader Joseph Muscat said during an event marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Maltese diplomatic ties.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100405/local/joseph-muscat-leaves-for-china.301368
Opposition leader Joseph Muscat is on his way to China for a visit as guest of the Chinese government.
The PL said he would have talks with Chinese government officials and trade leaders.
Dr Muscat is accompanied by Opposition foreign affairs spokesman George Vella and PL international secretary Alex Sceberras Trigona.
http://www.maltastar.com/dart/20120827-muscat-china-crucial-strategic-partner-for-malta
“The Labour Party considers China a crucial strategic partner for our country and looks forward to strengthening the relationship between the two countries in the years ahead.”
“A Labour government, he added, would also seek IT investment from China, Singapore and India.”
What’s wrong with that?
Does this mean that Chinese is set to become an entry requirement for University?
When does it start being taught in schools?
They really haven’t got it, have they?
Chaps, a quick reality check is in order here. And some of you will complain that it’s yet more PN-bashing. This grovelling to China, started by that vile scum Mintoff, was never halted by the PN. To our shame, and not many people know this, Malta is one of only two EU countries still to receive Chinese AID TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. I say again, developing countries. The other was Romania.
This went on right throughout the PN administration. Not only was the government conniving; it actually fostered this beggar-donor relationship.
Call me a hard jaundiced bastard, but I’d rather starve than receive a bowl of rice from the Chinese.
Chinese aid comes with all sorts of strings attached – dangerous ones too.
I know the bridge will be built. Great Joseph has decided so, and his will be done. Let’s not delude ourselves.
That bridge will be built using Chinese materials imported from China, using Chinese (slave) labour shipped in from China, using Chinese planners and Chinese expertise. Even food for the workmen will be shipped in from China.
That’s the way Chinese projects are carried out, and their government is absolutely inflexible on the point. That’s the way it was done when China carried out projects in Malta. And I’m not talking about Red China Dock, but projects under a Nationalist administration.
Let me PN-bash some more, and name names. Lawrence Gonzi was quite happy to go along with this, because it bought him a couple of million Euros’ worth of budgetary breathing space per year, and one simply doesn’t piss off the Chinese. But at what price?
You would think the party that made us European citizens would politely decline Chinese development aid. Are we a prosperous EU state or a developing country?
With such weak principles, it’s no wonder the PN loses elections. And it’s no wonder Malta will forever be the whore of the Mediterranean. Our ‘Right Wing’ harp on about the Jews, but nary a word about the real adversary.
When you are slaving at the lathe in a Chinese concentration camp, don’t say I hadn’t warned you.
A feasibility study isn’t carried out by a potential contractor.
Only an engineering consultancy can provide a pertinent independent study.
Anything else will be biased and carries risks.
And what, pray, are the terms of reference?
I wouldn’t be surprised if the deal were to include primarily access to Maltese territorial waters. Perhaps trade considerable quantities of square miles.
It’s what China’s been doing in North Africa.
The LP people, who smell bribery and corruption if someone offers a ride in a jet ride, see nothing suspicious in a “free” four million euro feasibility study by a likely bidder for the Malta-Gozo bridge. The Malta Taghna Lkoll brigade, sees no evil, hears no evil, and says no evil because they are so squeaky clean that butter does not melt in their mouths.
How long before the heir of Mintoff does a deal with the peace loving regime of North Korea?
Hey, H.P. Baxxter, you might be right in what you said above. But all of you who comment on this blog should delve deeper, then you’d find the reason as to WHY the Chinese are involved.
Aren’t you noticing how Minister Energy has been working behind the scenes now, rather than being pushed to the forefront with his new energy plan? He’s conspicuous by his absence.
So, come on, I’m sure that there are many sharp ones amongst you and I challenge you to do a Who’s Who on the current administration. Then, you’d know why China is involved.
Perhaps I wasn’t clear.
I said that the Chinese were involved all along, even under the PN government. Now they’ve just stepped up their activity a notch or two. Malta has been, since 1972, China’s vassal state in the Med. If the previous government saw fit to fawn in gratitude at Chinese stocking-fillers, should we expect this government, the heirs of Mintoff, to cold-shoulder the Chinese?
The previous administration also had its China connection and no mistake. But we were all too caught up in the Xarabank nonsense to notice it.
Cannot say more at this stage, sorry. You have enough hints in my contribution. I’m not arguing the fact that even the PN kept a relationship with the Chinese, but this is different.
[Daphne – You don’t have to ‘hint’ at the fact that the Energy Minister has a Chinese wife. It’s not as though that isn’t immediately obvious. There are many, many millions of Chinese. It’s not like Malta. So let’s not jump to conclusions on this basis.]
Your ‘contribution’ is shyte. You should join the nudge-nudge brigade over at Vivamalta.
In the past several engineering experts from different companies arrived to the same conclusion: the water is so deep that it will be prohibitively costly to build and maintain over the years.
The geographical area of Malta and Gozo is also subjected to strong winds which if a bridge is ever built it would be like a giant hammock.
The bridge would cost about 4 billion euros to built but it would be nice to walk to Gozo if they include a pedestrian lane.
To my knowledge government cannot accept something for free but must still make a public call because at the end of the day it could be that there is more than one company who wants to do this thing for free. Apart from the fact that such things smell foul.
P.S. and by the way where is the Deputy PM as we have heard more about Mallia, Farrugia and Mercieca than about what the Deputy PM is doing.
Isn’t he the one who is supposed to be ensuring that all the manifesto is implemented? Shouldn’t he have been at the 100 days press conference telling us how much of that manifesto they have started working on?