‘[The Chinese] moved us away so we would not see what was going on. They were stealing our oil and they knew it.’ – Abraham Thonchol, a rebel-turned-pastor Danna Harman

In Sudan, China Focuses on oil wells, not local needs~China has invested billions in oil facilities and pipelines, but not in much else, say Sudanese locals.

By Danna Harman | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

REPORTERS ON THE JOB: Ms. Harman shares the story behind the story.

Paloich, South Sudan – Li Haowei’s girlfriend gave him a silver ring when he left Liaoning, his home province in China, nine months ago. Before he boarded the flight to Sudan, Mr. Li had never even left Liaoning before. “You are so lucky,” his girlfriend said, then, enviously.

“I was happy to go abroad and see the world,” says Li, an accountant for Petrodar, a multinational oil consortium. “But I did not know enough to know I did not want to come here.”Paloich is not a particularly welcoming place. The heat surrounds and suffocates you like a plastic bag. The dust in the dry season sticks to your eyelashes and fills your nostrils. Mosquitoes buzz in your ears relentlessly.

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BU came across this story tonight and thought it should interest Barbadians for obvious reasons. Our Prime Minister Owen Arthur has just returned from China where he was full of praise at the outcome of discussions to deepen cooperation between the two countries. The relationship between China and Barbados strikes back to the early 80’s when the Chinese built the Gymnasium, Queens College and the remodeling of the building which houses the Ministry of Education to name a few Chinese projects. Over the years the Chinese known for their military work ethic have created concern in the market as a result of selling their labor at below market wages and their clannish lifestyle on an island which is small and use to a village culture.

This story coming out of Sudan is of concerned because it paints a picture which meshes with those of many Barbadians in recent times. China is veracious consumer of oil which it uses to power its massive manufacturing enterprise which is used to flood the global market with cheap merchandise. The question to be asked is __what is it that they are seeking to take from Barbados?