Rubber replaces rice as crop of choice in remote Laotian village, not everyone is happy about it.
Laos’ Communist regime touts rubber as a miracle crop that will help lift the country from the ranks of the world’s poorest nations. China is expected to consume a third of the world’s rubber by 2020, become its largest car market and put 200 million vehicles on the road.
But some Laotian farmers are losing their ancestral lands or being forced to become wage workers on what were once their fields. Chinese companies are accused of getting rubber concessions from officials and not compensating farmers. They also are accused of violating laws, human rights and the environment, under conditions described by experts as “anarchic.”
As China continues to assert its presence in the world, its actions will continue to be judged by both those who perscribe to the idea of a hamonious rise, and those who see something else, like the rioters in Zambia who forced President Hu Jintao to cancel an official visit to a Chinese-owned copper mine last year.