OPINION> Chen Weihua
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OPINION> Chen Weihua
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Fine we're no longer poor, but why waste?
By Chen Weihua (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-06 08:10 All signs these days point toward the fact that I live in a rich country.
The US Secretary of States Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner came to persuade us to hold and buy more US Treasury bonds. Countries from developed Europe to developing Asian neighbors want to borrow money from us. We have sent or are sending government delegations on shopping sprees to the US and Europe. These are things I have learned watching television, reading papers and surfing the Internet. But even what I see with my own eyes here in Shanghai suggests the city is filthy rich. The sidewalk outside my apartment has been excavated again, only a year after the last time it was dug up. The storefronts on a street not far from my home have been redecorated, only a few years after the previous facelift. Road construction, scaffolds, blockade of construction sites are everywhere in Shanghai these days, reminding people of the city's construction boom in the mid-1990s, when half of the world's cranes were said to be in Shanghai. The construction happening today is no less grand. The Shanghai Orient Morning Post reported that there are close to 8,000 construction sites in the city. Several hundred roads are being excavated and a total of 195 subway stations are under construction. The noise, dust and traffic congestions caused by the construction have become a source of frequent public outrage, which city officials have apologized for and begged the citizens for cooperation. Shanghai has a deadline to meet. The World Expo is less than 11 months away. It is understandable that brushing up the city is necessary ahead of such a major event, which will be attended by some 239 countries and international organizations. It is Shanghai's show time now, after its rival city Beijing hosted a splendid and extravagant Olympics last August. Shanghai does not want to lose face. It wants to win face, a mindset deeply rooted in the local culture where the English word "face" is a borrowed word in the local dialect. Beijing took a great leap forward in many ways thanks to the massive construction ahead of the Olympics. Shanghai will not let its moment slip away.
There is little doubt that during the six-month Expo, Shanghai will be a star, despite the fact that many countries have cut down their budgets for the show and the United States may spurn the event due to shortage of funds. It is a shortage that most Chinese could never comprehend. The richest country in the world cannot even foot a bill of $61 million for its pavilion at the world's top expo? I don't seem to understand it either. The amount after all is less than what US spends on its troops in Iraq in a day. But I would totally respect it if the American taxpayers decide not to spend money on the exhibition. The problem in my city and my country is the opposite. No one seems to care much about asking taxpayers if they agree to pay for repeated road dig-ups, the construction of luxury government offices, and a 632-m tall skyscraper. The good sign is the taxpayers are raising their voice and demanding answers. They want to be reminded on how their money is being used. The recent uproar from taxpayers in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, is a good example. They have sought accountability from the local government about a 15-year-old elevated road to be demolished for new construction. |
