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July 26, 2012
Much of the copper mined around Kamloops will end up in China. That's hardly
surprising, says Dambisa Moyo, a Zambian-born economist. China consumes 40 per
cent of the world's copper.
Sure, oil gets a lot of attention in developed countries but copper is necessary
for improving the lives of billions. "Three billion new people will join the
middle class by 2030," warns Moyo, and that fact spells copper. Those new
consumers will be shopping for computers, TVs, washing machines, cellphones and
dishwashers. They will buy houses wired for the electrical demands of those
appliances. Power companies will build new transmission lines to deliver
megawatts of electricity.
The demand for copper has pushed the exploration and development of mining into
formerly unfeasible areas such as the controversial Ajax mine on the edge of
Kamloops.
Copper is a non-renewable resource and costly to extract. Since 2003, copper
inventories have declined by 32 per cent while prices have increased by 400 per
cent. Mining companies scour the earth to find copper. They are exploring in
politically unstable countries and risky terrains to dig up the desirable metal.
We needn't worry about China's designs on our copper, says Moyo. Canada is a bit
player in China's global copper plans. Last year, the Chinese mining company
Chinalco bought an entire mountain of copper in Peru. Once in production, it
will be the largest copper mine on earth with a reserve of two billion tonnes of
copper ore.
Unlike Canadian mining companies in Central and South America, China uses
persuasion rather than force. Peruvians living in a small town on the copper
mountain will voluntarily leave the depressed area. In a referendum, they voted
to accept Chinalco's offer of $2,000 each plus a new house to move to a new
town.
No word yet that the owners of Ajax mine plan to hold a referendum in Kamloops
on their proposed mine.
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China is getting the resources it needs in a way that European colonizers
never did. In fact, domination is the wrong word to describe China's
technique says Moyo. China has no intention of imposing its will through
military force and seizing the wealth of conquered nations. They have no
interest in imposing religion, communism, or any other ideology.
China's soft sell involves negotiation and persuasion. And with deep pockets
and incredible $3 trillion to spend, they can make offers the world can't
refuse.
China is unencumbered by messy democracy; the monolithic political authority
sets industrial and economic goals and the monocultural population puts
their shoulder to the wheel.
The cheerleaders of Western capitalism promote democracy as the gateway to
free-market wealth, imposing it by invasion where necessary. But China
demonstrates how brute capitalism is done. The U.S. and Europe massively
subsidize agriculture while preaching unregulated enterprise. Meanwhile,
China Inc, as Moyo calls the giant state corporation, is buying up the world
on a scale that stuns the free-market pretenders of the West.
In 2005, due to Prime Minister Harper's sanctimonious finger-wagging at
China's human rights, Chinese investment in Canadian resources has been
almost nonexistent. More recently, Harper's contrite visits to China have
been rewarded by China Inc.
Now our PM has seen the light of the rising sun in the East and Chinese
investment in Canada's cash-strapped resource sector has increased with $17
billion being pumped in since 2009.
Our government has abandoned Canada's industrial base and must sell our
resources globally in a market where our competitors have learned long ago
the lessons of being friendly to China.
David Charbonneau is the owner of Thompson Studio
He can be reached at
dcharbonneau13@shaw.ca
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