DILEMMAS OF CHINA’S STATE OWNED MINING GIANTS #14 in a series on the FUTURE OF TIBET In the worldwide scramble for resources, Chinese state owned corporations seek to guarantee supply on a planetary scale. From the perspec tive of the corporate boardroom, the real choice is between exploiting minerals in Tibet, or in Peru, or […]
Category: Tibet
All things tibet
TURTLES, TIBETANS, TONNAGES: MAKING TIBET PERFORM IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY #13 in a series on THE FUTURE OF TIBET China is learning fast how to do deals globally, working its way up the value chain, able to not only buy mineral deposits and mines but do mergers and acquisitions with major competing players. The dealmakers […]
Categories
Industrialising Tibet
CHINA’S FIRST WAVE OF INDUSTRIALISATION OF TIBET: THE THIRD FRONT #11 in a series on THE FUTURE OF TIBET Mention the word “Tibet” and all too often people think only of central Tibet, the provinces of U-Tsang, which includes Lhasa and the historic heartland of the ancient kings. This is also what China means by […]
Categories
IS TIBET FOR SALE?
TRAFFICKING IN MINERAL RIGHTS TO TIBET NEW SOURCES OF PROFIT #10 in a series on THE FUTURE OF TIBET No longer does the Chinese state claim all rights and benefits. Now there are counterparties, in complex rolling transactions enabling mining rights to be bought, sold and onsold, as in those market societies where freehold property […]
HOW CHINA’S NEW RICH MAKE MONEY FROM ARBITRAGE #8 in a series on THE FUTURE OF TIBET China’s recent recentralisation of mining and metals manufacturing could be presented positively as a step towards efficiency, reduced energy intensity, burning fewer tonnes of coal per tonne of finished steel. The argument for recentralisation is that the […]
PROPERTY RIGHTS UNDER MARKET SOCIALISM WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS #7 in a series on THE FUTURE OF TIBET The 1990s saw great changes, as China emerged as the world’s factory. Industrialisation accelerated, powerful enterprises grew, vested interests resisted central efforts at reform, the idea of property rights began to take hold, and central leaders tried to […]
Categories
Copper-coloured Mountain
MINERALS IN THE NEW CHINA MODEL: RULE OF LAW? #6 in a series on THE FUTURE OF TIBET Tibetans, in Tibet and in exile, frequently express dismay about mining. When one sees the damage done by immigrant, nonTibetan gold rush miners all over Tibet, it is not hard to see why mining causes such […]
Categories
DECODING XI JINPING’S INSIDER LANGUAGE
CHINESE ROCKET SCIENCE AND THE “WICKED” PROBLEMS OF TIBET #5 in a series on THE FUTURE OF TIBET The engineers of the old Politburo that retired in 2012 had a secret religion, called metasynthetic engineering. It worships computerised modelling of reality, believing that there is a rational, scientific solution to all social problems. The key […]
Categories
Glue ear, and the one-eyed camera gaze
PERVERSE OUTCOMES FOR CHINA AND FOR TIBET #4 in a series on THE FUTURE OF TIBET Why are Tibetans so unhappy? Why have 70 Tibetans burned their bodies in protest? Is it possible to understand this solely as a question of religious repression and individual rights? China’s policies are failing to meet China’s own goals […]
ALLOCATING TIBET A ROLE IN THE GLOBAL DIVISION OF LABOUR #3 in a blog series on THE FUTURE OF TIBET If China succeeds in enmeshing Tibet with the lowland economy of China, Tibet will not only be re-oriented to look east for all economic connection, it will also be globalised. China is deeply enmeshed in […]