It is common to hear complaints uttered by people from China's neighboring countries toward Chinese investment projects there. But if you are there, it is also easy to feel the positive changes these projects bring to local people's lives.
Early this month, the New York Times published an article titled "Laos could bear cost of Chinese railroad," which implied that while China invests in Southeast Asian countries, it is China that takes away all the benefits and most of the costs are borne by those countries.
When a reporter only chose to hear complaints and purposely turned a deaf ear to what he did not want to hear, the scene he depicted inevitably became single-faceted and bleak.
Last summer, when I interviewed a shop owner in Laos along the Kunming-Bangkok Expressway, I asked if his life had been improved. He didn't say much, but pointed to his tile-roofed house and the pickup parked nearby and said, "Two years ago, they were not there."
If the reporters from the New York Times could stand in the shoes of the shop owner who I talked with rather than simply look for complaints, they might comprehend the feelings of Southeast Asians toward Chinese investment.
The Kunming-Bangkok Expressway, funded by China, connects ASEAN and China and links different ASEAN countries. In March, a bridge, the last one on the expressway to be completed, will be open to traffic. By then, people can drive from Singapore to Kunming directly instead of taking a ferry. Anyone who doesn't hold a prejudice will be aware of the benefits brought by the expressway to locals living along the route.
There are many such basic infrastructure projects funded or invested by China in Southeast Asia. Generally, they help promote local economies and lay a solid foundation for their future development. Nonetheless, some projects do bring environmental problems.
Take the Laos part of the Kunming-Bangkok Expressway. The potential of Laos' hydropower resources is huge, and the future development of Laos depends on such resources. Developing the resources will definitely affect the environment. But if environmental issues are blindly stressed and these resources are not developed, the development of Laos will suffer, which is an option the people from Laos are not likely to choose. The key is how to manage the development rather than stop developing.
Discussions about complaints of Chinese investments are nothing new. During my past two years of interviews in Southeast Asia, I heard complaints about Chinese projects, such as the environmental impact of some projects and inadequate compensation given to locals. There's much that China needs to improve to promote the development of Southeast Asian countries.
China buys mineral resources and energy from some of these countries, while it exports household products to satisfy local people's needs. However, what Southeast Asians expect most is to develop their own basic industries through Chinese investment and help. This is particularly important for countries such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.
Some Chinese enterprises have started running training programs. The Chinese government has already put funds into training the labor forces of Laos and Cambodia through joint projects with the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations.
All the work needs to be closely combined with the shift of China's manufacturing industry to Southeast Asia.
If China's industrial associations and enterprises set up a joint fund and train local workers for companies that come early, they will help raise the quality of local labor. The companies that come later can employ the trained locals, which will create more job opportunities for them.
When the incomes of local workers become stable, their expenditure on families and healthcare will also increase, creating a virtuous circle. This will also improve the image of Chinese enterprises in Southeast Asia.
The author is a senior editor with People's Daily. He is now stationed in Bangkok. dinggang@globaltimes.com.cn