[Marxism] China and imperialist economy

[Ben Courtice <benj2006@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A few excerpts from a feature in the latest "Fight Racism! Fight
Imperialism!" newspaper from the UK Revolutionary Communist Group
<http://www.revolutionarycommunist.com> -- the December/January issue
which this article is from is not online yet, but no doubt it will be
uploaded soon.

I'm posting this because, in the RCG's typical approach, author Trevor
Rayne points to some of the implications of bourgeois restoration in
China for the world economy and from this, I extrapolate, for the
political economy of the working class. I'm not aware of much Marxist
discussion drawing out these points yet. (forgive me if it has occurred
and I've missed it!) However it is plain here in Australia that the
emergence of China as a capitalist power has an impact -- massive growth
in Australia's biggest industry, minerals export, combined with decline
and uncertainty in areas such as manufacturing and agriculture. This
certainly has an impact on different sectors of the working class. For
anecdotal illustration, my last job mainly made parts for the auto
industry, and kept losing customers to overseas manufacturers (including
China). It was lowly paid and downsizing. My current job makes liquid
tanker trucks, e.g. for use (among other things) in mines -- and seems
to be booming, having put on a lot of new people at the same time as me.
(the pay's a lot better, too :)

Below I've interpolated some commentary with excerpts from the article.

Ben Courtice

****

The article quotes at length figures on China's economic growth since
1978, with many examples of its industrial, foreign trade, consumer
purchasing and other areas of economic growth. It finishes this section
with the following paragraph:

"Capitalism and imperialism have been given an extension of its life by
the discovery of this last 'frontier for significant growth', as
Unilever describes China, but in doing so it is producing a rival to US
global hegemony."

The second point here has been debated a lot not just in Marxist circles
but in the bourgeois press. On the first point (extension of life, last
frontier) I wonder just how significant it is for ameliorating recession
and allowing capitalist growth. A new recession is probably in the
pipeline soon, going on the general schema that they tend to occur every
7-9 years. The last recession in 1998 ("Asian Economic Crisis") was
largely staved off in the imperialist nations, partly (I think) due to
the sacrifice of the economy of several Newly Industrialising Countries
(e.g. Indonesia).

The article then charts a brief overview of the bourgeois degeneration
of the Chinese revolution culminating in the Deng leadership, and a
sketch of the devastation of China's socialist gains, from the status of
women to the "Dickensian" condition of coal miners, to the environment.
"Shanghai has a property bubble and elsewhere there is an
over-production of property, but not for the working class."

The next section addresses the flight of manufacturing towards China --
from countries as diverse as Japan and Mexico.
"_The Economist_ (30 July 2005) notes that with China, India and Russia
entering into the global capitalist market, the world's labour force
has, in effect, doubled, with China responsible for over half of this
increase. 'So, with twice as many workers and little change in the size
of the global capital stock, the ratio of global capital to labour has
fallen almost by half in a matter of years.' As a result, wages in the
most developed capitalist countries are at their lowest level as a
proportion of national income for decades while profits are at their
highest level in Japan and the euro area for 25 years. Last year, US
after-tax profits rose to their highest level for 75 years but wages
lagged 6% behind cyclical trends. China's influence on low commodity
prices and purchase of US Treasury bonds has kept inflation rates low,
allowed central banks to set low interest rates fuelling an expansion of
credit thereby driving up house prices and consumer debt.
"As China has expanded so world commodity prices for oppressed nations'
producers have risen. China is a rival to imperialist nations for
investment in underdeveloped nations and for purchases of their
commodities."

A number of issues are indicated here. The strengthening of the
imperialist economies is counterbalanced by the growth of a potential
rival. Obviously the prospects for China to seriously rival the US are
contested by Marxists with an understanding of imperialism, but since
the imperialists themselves appear a little worried (see below) we ought
to give some consideration to the possibility.

The growth in prices for oppressed nations' producers also affects
Australia because our main exports are primary products (especially
minerals). With an impact on the structure of the working class here
significant to revolutionaries, insofar as the changing stratifications
of working class privilege affect our organising (the theory of the
labour aristocracy, for those who adhere to it). In regard to the
comment on housing prices, this seems to have driven a large section of
Australia's economy recently, and promoted the existence of a growing
(at least until recently) section of workers-cum-landlords, owning
several rental or investment properties.


Rayne points out the negative implications for the US in terms of the
alternative market for Venezuelan oil (strengthening Chavez' hand) as
well as Canada:
"Canadian and Chinese firms have signed a memorandum to build a pipeline
to carry oil to Canada's west coast for shipment to Asia. US Vice
President Dick Cheney's 2001 national energy security report stressed
the importance of Canada's oil tar sands to the US. China may seek 'a
peaceful rise' but imperialism cannot allow itself to surrender resouces
and markets crucial to its existence that were won by war and military
interventions."


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