Inadequate compensation doesn't reflect today's China
- Source: Global Times
- [22:51 March 11 2010]
- Comments
A landmark 1947 case involving compensation of $3,400 for a Chinese killed by a UN official's car. In 1947, $3,400 was worth exactly 100 ounces of gold then, and that gold today would be worth $111,000, but the current top limit on domestic claims – $48,330 (330,000 yuan) – is less than 44 percent of the 1947 payment. Things for Chinese victims have gotten worse, not better.
Insurance companies have an obvious narrow interest in keeping their payouts low. They may not want to hear about the increased earnings power of Chinese individuals today, but they shouldn't hide behind outmoded anti-foreigner arguments when it is their own niggardliness that is to blame.
Indeed, insurance companies should be proactive and enlightened. When payouts are higher, insurance companies become economically motivated to force changes of all sorts: Making highways and cars safer, increasing driver education efforts, pressing law agencies to enforce traffic regulations more consistently, raising building construction and inspection standards to decrease fire and building collapse losses, and on and on throughout every insurable aspect of society.
Dragging xenophobia into this issue to save a little money, while irresponsible and short-sighted, is not that important.
The failure of insurance companies and other parts of society to perceive and react intelligently to the vast changes that are daily occurring is important and should receive close attention.
The author is a Beijing-based freelance writer from the US. forum@globaltimes. com.cn
