Dear Editor,
In recent times we have been seeing and hearing the emergence of anti-Chinese sentiments. This is a most unfortunate development and it appears to be grounded in a combination of envy, political sabotage and rank ignorance. The persons up in arms against foreign investors from China have no problem with white foreign investors from the USA and the UK.
The opposition to Chinese the investors should therefore be viewed with suspicion as it might be a sign of inherent insecurity and racism.
It is accepted that a country must have standards, rules and regulations regarding foreign investments they are prepared to accept. From this there should be developed a means of determining whether the foreign investment to be accepted is compliant with the set stipulations. Only foreign investments not compliant with the desire of the country should be rejected.
None of the persons questioning and opposing foreign investments from China have shown that these investors will breach any of our rules and regulations governing foreign investments. There is therefore no proper basis to support the opposition. We are yet to hear these persons opposing investment from European and North American countries. These persons seem willing to see the country open its doors to foreign investors who are white people, while closing the door in the face of the Chinese.
Those opposing investments by Chinese should be told that most European countries have flung their doors open to Chinese investors. In the case of Britain, the chancellor of the exchequer (their minister of finance) visited China last year and, in a speech to students and investors at a university, extended an open invitation for the Chinese to invest in Britain. Subsequent to that, Britain removed visa requirements for Chinese investors and put regulations in place making it easier for Chinese investors to invest in the UK.
In the scheme of things Jamaica is a little dot on the map of the world. We therefore have to be careful that we do not "cut off wi nose fi spite wi face". Our national motto is "Out of Many One People" and reflects the multiplicity of ethnic groups in this country. It is a commitment to treat all races equal. We have a vibrant and well-established Chinese community. We celebrate the success of Bryon Lee and Tessanne Chin, both of whom are descendants of Chinese who have been in Jamaica for years.
The leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, Mr Andrew Holness needs to rein in the members of his party who are making open and veiled attacks on Chinese investors. He needs to take steps to remove any impression being given that the JLP is on an anti-Chinese campaign.
For its part, the Government should continue to pursue a policy of opening the doors of Jamaica to all foreign investors, irrespective of their race. The only issue that should be on the table is that the foreign investor is prepared to comply with our rules, our laws and our regulations.
Racism has no place in policy decision on investments.
Linton P Gordon
Attorney-at-law
lpgordon@cwjamaica.com
Seems like racism against the Chinese
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In recent times we have been seeing and hearing the emergence of anti-Chinese sentiments. This is a most unfortunate development and it appears to be grounded in a combination of envy, political sabotage and rank ignorance. The persons up in arms against foreign investors from China have no problem with white foreign investors from the USA and the UK.
The opposition to Chinese the investors should therefore be viewed with suspicion as it might be a sign of inherent insecurity and racism.
It is accepted that a country must have standards, rules and regulations regarding foreign investments they are prepared to accept. From this there should be developed a means of determining whether the foreign investment to be accepted is compliant with the set stipulations. Only foreign investments not compliant with the desire of the country should be rejected.
None of the persons questioning and opposing foreign investments from China have shown that these investors will breach any of our rules and regulations governing foreign investments. There is therefore no proper basis to support the opposition. We are yet to hear these persons opposing investment from European and North American countries. These persons seem willing to see the country open its doors to foreign investors who are white people, while closing the door in the face of the Chinese.
Those opposing investments by Chinese should be told that most European countries have flung their doors open to Chinese investors. In the case of Britain, the chancellor of the exchequer (their minister of finance) visited China last year and, in a speech to students and investors at a university, extended an open invitation for the Chinese to invest in Britain. Subsequent to that, Britain removed visa requirements for Chinese investors and put regulations in place making it easier for Chinese investors to invest in the UK.
In the scheme of things Jamaica is a little dot on the map of the world. We therefore have to be careful that we do not "cut off wi nose fi spite wi face". Our national motto is "Out of Many One People" and reflects the multiplicity of ethnic groups in this country. It is a commitment to treat all races equal. We have a vibrant and well-established Chinese community. We celebrate the success of Bryon Lee and Tessanne Chin, both of whom are descendants of Chinese who have been in Jamaica for years.
The leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, Mr Andrew Holness needs to rein in the members of his party who are making open and veiled attacks on Chinese investors. He needs to take steps to remove any impression being given that the JLP is on an anti-Chinese campaign.
For its part, the Government should continue to pursue a policy of opening the doors of Jamaica to all foreign investors, irrespective of their race. The only issue that should be on the table is that the foreign investor is prepared to comply with our rules, our laws and our regulations.
Racism has no place in policy decision on investments.
Linton P Gordon
Attorney-at-law
lpgordon@cwjamaica.com
Seems like racism against the Chinese
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