Page 112 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

Bryan Davis: State owned enterprises: Chinese fdi in Canada via the lenses of perceptual, political,
economic and social considerations

First, héxiéshèhuì, is the concept of harmonious society. China has major gender

imbalance: approximately 24 million more men than women. Possessing vast quantities of

single men, presumably destined to remain single for their entire lives, can often be a disruptive

force in society. The role of video games to mitigate some harm is the subject for another paper.

Yet, the Chinese government’s stance on the issue becomes more clear when viewed through the

lens of social engineering – they have an interest in mitigating the effects of this cohort of

unmarried men to the largest degree possible. This leads into the second item: Mr. Weidong is a

government official and as such is expected to tow the Party line, so to speak. Much like

Winston Smith felt compelled to agree that “we have always been at war with Oceania” in

Orwell’s 1984, it is worth drawing attention to the fact that China is, after all, still a totalitarian

dictatorship. Finally, the concept of maturity in viewing different markets and trading partners is

perhaps lacking with officials like Mr. Weidong. Rather than being pejorative, we wish to yet

again draw attention to the huge successes that Chinese FDI has brought Africa.

Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs concept creates a fascinating vantage from

which we may assess why officials such as Mr. Weidong may have been inadequately sensitive.

FDI can bring about marked improvement in the most basic aspects of life, food and shelter for

instance, by providing jobs, economic growth and government revenue. This is a more

existential issue for Africa than Canada given our level of prosperity. In such a scenario there

are fewer inhibitions towards infrastructure development (i.e. unlike the Gateway pipeline) and

certainly less outrage over culturally misguided quotes. Canada differs substantially. The

population as a whole is well past the point of satisfying basic needs. In essence, Canada is rich

enough to object strongly to a perceived insult, regardless as to the amount of money on the

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