China – treating Malta just like Zimbabwe, because the people now in charge here are of that mindset
Reuters reported last Monday:
China lends Zimbabwe US$319m for Kariba hydropower upgrade
China has lent Zimbabwe US$319 million to pay for the expansion of its Kariba hydropower station, an upgrade that should help ease electricity shortages in the southern African country, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Monday.
Zimbabwe produces about 1,200 megawatts of electricity against a peak demand of 2,200 megawatts, resulting in long outages that have hit industrial and agricultural production.
“This should go a long way in reducing power outages that characterise our power generation. For us the energy deficit has hamstrung the growth of our economy,” Chinamasa said at an event to sign the loan agreement.
The project will take four years to complete and is for two power units of 150 megawatts each. Kariba produces 750 megawatts at its peak.
The loan, from China Exim Bank, will attract annual interest of two per cent and has a repayment period of 20 years.
China has emerged as a big lender to Zimbabwe after traditional Western donors stopped supporting President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF government over charges of vote fraud and human rights abuses.
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http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1353613/china-lends-zimbabwe-us319m-kariba-hydropower-upgrade
You know, this whole citizenship scheme strikes me as institutionalized corruption. Pay money and get a passport. It just doesn’t make any sense.
LEST WE FORGET. Can someone draw up a definitive list of Labour’s great achievements in these first few months of its disastrous reign?
Something we can periodically revisit and update with all the latest triumphs?
Constantly bombarded as we are with news of ever more audacious feats of good governance, it’s so easy to forget have low we have fallen in just a few months.
Next on Labour’s agenda: giving Maltese citizenship to Robert Mugabe.
Meanwhile, it seems that Joseph Muscat’s MOU with China included a line so that China pays for Malta’s TV rights for the next three editions of the World Cup.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-11-14/news/i-know-that-i-do-not-go-down-well-with-the-pn-manuel-mallia-3192619008/
Ciccio, I have heard that Mugabe’s secret personal diamond account money is now, under this Labour Government, passing through Malta.
Do you mean his “personal BLOOD diamond account money”?
Another coincidence, don’t you think?
That this had to happen now and that again, there’s Chinese involvement with Mugabe and support by them for him to remain in power.
Thank you for your question.
This prompted an update search. One should indeed have a closer look at China’s involvement with Mugabe:
http://100r.org/2013/10/made-in-china-the-secret-of-mugabes-election-success/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313123/Robert-Mugabes-darkest-secret-An-800bn-blood-diamond-run-Chinas-Red-Army.html
http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1311977/foreign-firms-must-surrender-shares-zimbabweans-mugabe
http://www.zimbabweelection.com/2013/07/09/ffze-exclusive-mugabe-china-funnelling-secret-diamond-money-to-army/
I have questions now as to who in the Malta Labour Government facilitated this movement of funds. Whether it was China-linked, whether all three angles were linked to John Dalli’s Bahamas trip – he would have been there when Mugabe was tightening the noose over the Opposition in preparation for the elections a year ahead to July 2013, etc.
Yes.
Robert Mugabe was able to maintain his stronghold over Zimbabwe thanks to China. This way he continues to live in huge palaces surrounded by great riches whilst the people of Zim have been stripped of all dignity and live in great poverty. He owes his political survival to China and China effectively now owns Zimbabwe and all its resources.
Good point. China is only after natural resources.
But what are its real interests and intentions in the case of resource-strapped Malta? Is it oil, which successive Maltese governments have overlooked?
No. In a nutshell, it is EU membership without all the obligations.
Also, would you stop repeating that nonsense conspiracy theory about oil?
You should see the media entourages which happened in Zimbabwe after that declaration: Dictators preaching their spiel on people that do not know better.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/world/Gambia-severs-diplomatic-ties-with-Taiwan-20131115
‘A decision taken in the national strategic interest.’
Manuel said it’s not in the national interest that we know who gets to be Maltese.
And he solemnly declared he’s determined to do his job.
I take it we should get the hint and back down then.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/budget2014/Mallia-No-one-will-stop-me-from-doing-my-job-20131114
‘..Addressing parliament on the budget vote for home affairs, Mallia said it had been his responsibility to visit the Corradino Correctional Facility, “contrary to my predecessor who, in five years, never set foot at the prisons”.
He said this inspection had revealed that punch clocks and CCTV didn’t work and guard dogs who were “pets”….’
Santino Taghna Lkoll.