Papua New Guinea in 1976: Dangers of a China Connection
1977; University of California Press; Volume: 17; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/2643440
ISSN1533-838X
Autores Tópico(s)Migration and Labor Dynamics
ResumoPRIME MINISTER MICHAEL SOMARE'S visit to the People's Republic of China in October 1976 was fraught equally with opportunities and dangers. The opportunities were attractive. Heavily dependent on Australia for aid and trade,' PNG found itself one year after independence tied to the high cost of Australian products, and an importer of a 15 to 20% inflation rate. Somare had indicated in a seminal address outlining PNG's foreign policy aspirations that after independence he would not like his country's heavy dependence on Australia to be interpreted by other nations as a neocolonialism or an Uncle Tom relationship.2 He promised to diversify PNG's sources of aid, trade, and foreign investment. China offered enticing prospects, particularly in the area of inexpensive consumer goods such as fabrics. By the end of 1976, PNG's imports from China had quadrupled, while China bought copper, timber and cocoa. In an equally significant area, rural development, China attracted the Somare government. About 85% of PNG's population still lives in small self-sufficient villages. However, since 1966 when less than 5% of the people lived in urban areas, urban growth has shot up to over 20% annually. This was accompanied by the familiar patterns of unemployment, crime, and squatter settlements. Add to this the fact that the increasing urban population has developed dietary and general consumption habits for imported western goods. The Somare government has reacted to these engulfing events by adopting an economic development plan that emphasizes rural development and decentralization to slow down the urban drift and make the new nation selfsufficient, at least in food production. These background facts provide a partial explanation for Somare's trip to China. Particularly over the
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