Tuesday, December 23, 2014

This is an 'outrageous statement!' OR--is it?

In the 19thC. the British 'declared war on China in a most unseemly manner. One usually thinks of war as one involving battles and yes, there were guns involved but it was the other 'weapon,' Opium that was the 'star'--the one that was used to force the Chinese to open their country to the influences of Britain and other major powers. It was for economic gain that the opium Wars were declared and 'fought.' China did open up and gradually became the nation that took another century to regain its united status that it enjoys today. Could one now say that the tables have turned. I do not mean the massive influence that China now has re its economic power, but the sourcing of a 'modern day opium'---the precursors for the manufacture of Methamphetamine or 'P' as we call it in New Zealand. It seems that hardly a week goes by, without hearing about a seizure or interception of a 'haul', either from China or Taiwan. (same country if you hold to Chinas 'one country policy) These substances are then manufactured (cooked) locally and sent to the gangs, the streets and go onto destroy people's lives. It seems a bit ironic that the tables have turned. Sure it is not a result of any Chinese Governmental policy. They too have to deal with a huge problem in their own country, one in which they impose far more dire consequences. To say that it is a war is a bit 'stretched, outrageous, but I merely point out a flip-flop of history and how such events flow and ebb. NZ amongst other countries now has to deal with the results of past failed policies. Perhaps cooperation between China and NZ is the way forward, a solution that was never considered in the days gone by when Colonial powers wreaked so much damage. I wonder what the Chinese Government's take is on this issue. No one asked them back in the 1840s! www.authorneilcoleman.com (I aim to 'provoke discussion!)