Labor Protests Multiply in China as Economy Slows, Worrying Leaders
With the expanding population in China, the workplace has taken a major hit in that the government has to be able to build the China's economy and the way to do that is by companies producing more and selling more. However, with the companies must be able to pay the workers as well as making a profit. The only way that this can happen is by making the wages lower in order to make make up the loss of money through expenses. This does not float well with the millions of workers that already don't have a lot to start off with and now with the addition of slashed wages. So what do workers do when the feel that the government and companies aren't treating them adequately? They go on strikes. When this happens, business slows down, which means the economy slows down with it. In China, strikes and protests against businesses, the slow progression of its economy and money being lost, leaders of other countries do not see this as a good thing and are starting to worry about this epidemic. For the last two decades, the decline in work production in China has been slowly increasing while the number of protests and strikes have multiplied. According to one study, roughly 3 million workers could lose their jobs in the next two years if the government decides to cut the work force. In addition, about 1.8 million people have been already laid off, which shows the dramatic downfall of the Chinese economy. This does not give confidence for other countries that China is a good trading partner and that may deter from countries in investing with China.
The sudden rise in number of protests/strikes China may have to come up with a compromise that will not only satisfy the displeased workers, but might have to cut down the harsh regulations/laws China has put on its work force. If China ever wants to have economical prosperity, they will have to be able to limit the amount of workplace strikes and adapt to the ever expanding population without harming the work place. Yet every time there is a strike or protest, President Xi Jinping doesn't feel compromise is necessary, so he decides to squash the rebels and makes companies pay for them. This is not how a country should resolve its economic problems rather they should find a more diligent way to conquer the issues that strangle the country's progression.
After knowing that this is happening in China, do you think this will affect the presidential race, if at all? Do you think that other countries, like the US, should get involved in fixing up China's mess? If so, what can other countries do? Lastly, how do you think (with the current state of China's economy) will affect the US moving forward?
2 comments:
As the Chinese government is increasingly unable to sustain economic growth, I far that it may even extend to impact our economy. I have read reports leaning both towards the position that it will drastically effect us and others that claim that the effects will be limited as we are more self-sustaining than we may appear, but I think the fact remains that we are a service industry. Many many companies have capital in China. If they were forced to remove this in light of a large scale protest in China I don't know where they would move it. Certainly Thailand, Vietnam, and Mexico offer cheap labor, but even the cost of moving this outsourced industry will at least cause a hiccup in our economy. I hope that one day Xi Jinping will see the err of his ways and increase the democracy of his country, but it would be naive to expect this from him. In terms of the election, Trump has expressed extreme disdain for the Chinese, and Sanders has expressed opposition to the cyber attacks that they have conducted against us. Hillary does not seem to think they are a threat if the recently released emails are any indication, but as things change it will be interesting to see how the candidates change.
In terms of foreign affairs, I think it will affect the presidential race in terms of their future ideas about continuing or discontinuing their trade agreement with China. While China's economic problems are growing into a more vulnerable and unstable state, I don't think it's anything for the US to be concerned about at this point in time. I think that like our own country, that the economic problems that are created should be handled internally and not have a major impact on those in partnership with the country. China is not our friend, they are not our allie in any way, shape, or form; they are merely a partner in trade and nothing more. I really don’t think we should help China because it really isn’t any of our business and America should stop taking the problems of the world and putting them on our shoulders. I think that if China’s current economy does effect the US, it’ll be minimal.
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