The Yegiora Files

Chinese workers from the Ramu Nico Mine with yours truly. These young Papua New Guineans when interviewed said they learnt a lot from the Chinese workers. What they like about them is that they unlike Westerners were not interested in what kind of qualification you have. The Chinese are more interested in whether or not you can learn from them and do the job you are asked to do competently. A building for storing dried cocoa beans along Binnen Road in Madang built by these Chinese workers from the Ramu NiCo Mine. The Chinese workers operated the crane and assembled the steel frames.

By Bernard Yegiora “Nǐ huì shuō yīngyǔ ma?” I asked the Taxi driver and he replied “Bù huì!”. I guess you are trying to figure out what I was saying to the Taxi driver. Well, I asked him if he could speak English and he gave me a negative answer. He then asked me if I could speak Chinese, I answered “a little” in Chinese. Then he asked me where I was from “Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén?” and I answered “Bābùyǎ xīn jǐnèiyǎ”. Most of the taxi drivers that I chat with think that PNG is in Africa, I presume it is because of the jǐnèiyǎ part of the name, sounds like the word Guinea which is associated with the names of several African countries. When they immediately smile and say “Fēizhōu”, I try my best to correct their mistakes, I reply each and every time “Bùshì fēizhōu” and make it my business to tell them that PNG is just north of Australia and is situated in the Pacific Ocean. This repeated experience caused me to question myself whether or not in 20 years time will a person in the same professi...

By Bernard Yegiora In recent weeks a collage of events in international politics has moved the spotlight directly on PNG. The tag of being classed as a minnow in international politics is slowly fading as the global competition between two of the world’s most influential nations gain momentum. Three different events that occurred in succession but share in essence the message of competition are; Hilary Clinton’s case about PNG involving China, Julia Gillard’s historical address to the US Congress which included the topic of China, and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi’s media session during the annual Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing. Competition for influence is one main motive in international politics, if one can gain influence that means they can have easy access to scarce resources like energy and markets for manufactured goods. The US feels that China is pushing them out of the LNG Project because of Chinese influence in the country in th...

By Bernard Yegiora In life there seems to be a reoccurring pattern to every phenomenon. At birth, a baby is fragile and small, but through the evolutionary process that little human being grows up. This pattern is similar to starting a business, from infant stage the business grows into a large business, recruiting more people and making more money. Defined simply as something intended as a guide for making or understanding something else, the concept of pattern can also be used to understand the growth of a nation like China. Not only a child, or a business grows but a nation also grows. Look at China before Deng Xiaoping’s economic reform, Mao laid the foundation of the modern nation at birth, and Deng guided it through puberty. As China continues to grow in the 21 st century when will she reach adulthood? According to IMF’s latest official forecast, China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016, maybe by then it will be a matured nation? Another pattern in hu...

By Bernard Yegiora The world we live in is changing at a rapid pace. This view unfortunately is not shared by many in the poor developing nations of the world, especially for those in the remote places up in the highlands, and even in the islands of PNG. For them change is happening at a snail pace. The City of Changchun where I live is a growing organism, with continuous construction going on; I wonder when the city will stop growing. I was surprised to see how fast the Chinese were able to build a 15 storey building in just 8 months. Beginning in spring last year, they worked really hard up until the beginning of winter. The building is now awaiting finishing touches, which will be done after the bone crunching northeast winter is over. In January last year, on my way to Harbin which is the capital city of Heilongjiang Province way up north close to the Russian boarder, I was fascinated by the complex mega highway. I noticed that some sections of the highway was elevated off the g...

By Bernard Yegiora Anti-Chinese sentiments or Sinophobia is a deadly trend that is becoming more and more common as China continues to rise. It is defined as the dislike of or fear of China, its people or its culture. However, xenophobia is widespread in all societies of the world. In Iran, anti-American sentiments is strong, they see America as evil because of their arrogance. America in their bid to create a peaceful world have strongly gone against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, even though, Iran has assured the world that its nuclear program is for peace purposes. In PNG’s case, we have witnessed the ransacking of Asian businesses in 2009; mostly people of ethnic Chinese origin in major centers around the nation were targeted because of the disparity of wealth. This Sinophobia is dramatically growing day by day and could most probably lead to a major social up rising of far great magnitude than it predecessor. In retrospect, Chinese entrepreneurs have been in PNG before independence an...

By Ilya Gridneff PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (PNG Post-Courier, June 2, 2009) – A former Chinese dissident gets deported and growing anti-Chinese violence breaks out while the power of the local Asian mafia rises amid claims of widespread police corruption. It sounds like a plot for a Hollywood action thriller, but it’s just a slice of everyday life in Papua New Guinea. The opening scenes would show former Chinese government dissident Gu Kai being forced awake from his sleep and taken from his Port Moresby home, beaten by police, blindfolded, then taken hostage and driven to the outskirts of town. In a hotel room he is beaten again, forced to sign affidavits accusing the PNG police commissioner of corruption and when he refuses, the beatings continue. Next morning police and immigration department officials take the luggage-less, passport-less, battered and bruised man to the airport and deport him to Hong Kong. Allegations arise that behind the deportation is a mys...