China’s Currency Devaluation Protected Its Workers—Something the U.S. Doesn’t Bother With
In These Times
The massive $3.2 trillion destruction in financial value hasn’t sparked a broader financial crisis in China — an illustration of how China’s financial system is different from other major powers. While the People’s Bank of China has sufficient firepower to reverse a crash of several trillion dollars (far more than most other countries), China’s financial system is also comparatively isolated relative to both global finance and China’s own domestic population.
Five years ago, workers at Nanhai Honda in China captured the world's attention in a wildcat strike that shut down Honda production. Workers demanded a large pay increase and the chance to elect their own union representatives. What has happened since? The current situation at Nanhai Honda presents both a challenge and an opportunity to the trade union.
This is a China whose official ideology once condemned wealth and inequality, whose government treated "rich peasants" as criminals and trumpeted the necessity of individual poverty and self-sacrifice in the service of building socialism in the world's most populous country. And yet today wealth is celebrated in China -
The extent and complexity of China’s myriad transformations barely filter into the American media. Stories in the U.S. tend to emphasize the country’s “shrinking” economy, or its role as a military “threat” to Washington and the world. The U.S. media has a China fever, which results in typically feverish reports that don’t take the pulse of the country or its leaders. In the process, so much is missed, including the vast scope of China’s plans for the future.
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