Home ›› 22 Sep 2022 ›› Opinion
China insists it is a reliable investment partner - but it is also facing allegations of worker exploitation and environmental damage.
It is one of those CCTV moments where a disaster is about to happen. A dock worker at the vast Greek port of Piraeus, near Athens, can be seen strolling along the quayside next to a huge stack of shipping containers.
Suddenly, he looks up to see one of them plummeting towards him, with another close behind. The docker sprints away and narrowly escapes being crushed by the two huge boxes - which instead smack down hard on an empty lorry.
Last year, another worker in Piraeus was not so lucky. Forty-five-year-old Dimitris Dagklis did not escape and was killed in a crane accident.
"His death was a result of the intensification of our work and the fact there were not enough safety measures in place," laments Markos Bekris, chairman of the dockers' trade union in the port.
Since Dagklis's death, unions have gone on strike over staffing reductions at the port - which is two-thirds owned by Cosco, a Chinese state company.
Across Europe, as governments worry about Russia's invasion of Ukraine post-pandemic, Beijing is powering on - expanding its portfolio. Running European ports and mines - building roads and bridges - investing where others won't.
But countries are having to weigh up the rewards - and risks - of signing deals with China. Many governments are increasingly wary of so-called "debt traps", where lenders - such as the Chinese state - can extract economic or political concessions if the country receiving investment cannot repay.
There are also claims of workers being exploited by Chinese firms - in terms of pay, conditions and staffing levels. We put questions to Cosco about Dimitris Dagklis's death, staffing levels at Piraeus and environmental concerns about port expansion. The company said it wouldn't give us an interview and couldn't help further.
Bekris doesn't blame Beijing exclusively for contributing to what he says has been an erosion of employment rights. He argues the post-global financial crisis capitalist system would have let any foreign company come in and maximise profit at the expense of the workers.
There is no doubt Beijing investment has powered a renaissance at the port since the Greek government was forced to sell it - and other public assets - in the aftermath of the economic turmoil that hit so hard in 2008.
As we zip along the coast in a small motorboat, we soon find a queue of enormous container ships lining up on the horizon awaiting berths - a giant watery car park, filled with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of mostly Chinese-made goods soon to be distributed to all corners of Europe.
The boom at Piraeus - including job opportunities for locals - mirrors a wider transformation in Greece's financial fortunes. It is now one of the fastest growing EU economies.
But, like all its European neighbours, it is also scrambling to cope with the impact - economic and otherwise - of the Ukraine war. Nations are re-evaluating what it means to do business with Beijing - which in February declared a new global order, in tandem with its ally Moscow.
On the opening day of its own Winter Olympics, China declared a "no limits" partnership with Russia and promised to collaborate more against the West. Since then, China has resolutely failed to condemn President Putin's assault on Ukraine.
In Piraeus, the alleged environmental damage caused by port expansion has prompted legal action by local people against the Chinese owners, Cosco. There are particular concerns about the unchecked dredging of the sea bed and toxic pollution - as well as the increase in traffic on both sea and land.
Lawyer Anthi Giannoulou - who played on the rocky coastline as a child - fears for her community's long-term future.
"It will not benefit Piraeus. It will benefit other people who do not live here.
"Piraeus is a really small city and the people who still live here have been living here for many generations. So we cannot be driven out by some investment without being asked about it."
In the marbled lobby of a government building in central Athens, we are greeted by Greece's foreign minister Nikos Dendias. He explains the investment in Piraeus has been mutually beneficial - and recalls that China was the only investor to come forward at the time the Greek government was forced to sell the port.
"On our economic relations, I think both parties benefit. China has an entry point for its products to the European Union, to the Balkans and to central and eastern Europe. And we have a big commercial port up-to-date."
Following the 2008 crash, the so-called "European troika" of the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund were adamant the port be sold to help service Greece's spiralling debts.
"The truth is that China took over Piraeus and now Piraeus is one of the biggest ports in Europe and - if what they say is true, and I have no reason to doubt it - will probably come number one, or number two, in the whole of Europe. So that's a huge improvement and the investment is substantial."
But what about potential "debt traps" that might come with any future Chinese investment in Greece? Is Piraeus port the high point of Athens' relations with Beijing? The minister admits his government hasn't signed any more big deals, but suggests it will judge future opportunities on a case by case basis.
"There [is] not any more substantial Chinese investment in Greece, but we judge the investment on commercial grounds. I mean, if the Chinese want to invest, we're a free country and a free economy."
BBC
