China, A Huge Ray of Hope

Lie, lie, lie, still and always, there will well remain something about it! —Goebbels, propaganda minister of Adolf Hitler

Erasmo Calzadilla

HAVANA TIMES — Granma has been assigned (we all know by whom) a daunting and painful task: lying and misrepresenting. And the truth is that is it has been fulfilling this masterfully.

One of those topics around which it has “worked” most is beautifying the image of China.

The Friday (September 21) edition of the paper featured two magnificent gems for understanding how the professionals Granma operate when it comes to their comrades.

Did you know that China represents a huge ray of hope for the climate?

I’ll summarize the news if you won’t give yourself the pleasure of reading it.

It turns out that the price of solar panels has plummeted in recent years due to the significant investments that the Asian giant has made in this field. However the European Union and the United States are hampering the development of solar energy by imposing tariffs and subsidizing the oil industry.

All of this might even be true, partially or totally. Now, imagine that you live under an unopposed media blitz aimed at putting a good spin on China, and in this context you come across a piece of news like this.

You will receive it without knowing, for example, that that nation is responsible for a quarter of the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, which places it in an undisputed first place worldwide.

The reason isn’t its population of over a billion people, but the leaders of the Chinese “communist” party who have turned it into a kind of country-factory.

It is a factory that is exceedingly dependent on fossil fuel, a factory whose growth based on human exploitation has rescued from the crisis the capitalist system (distended, consumeristic and polluting par excellence).

So, contrary to what the news in Granma suggests, China is — with respect to the environment — the most wanted criminal of the global village. Even though many European Union nations advocate the control of CO₂ emissions or already control them, China doesn’t accept those restrictions.

Another article discussed a related topic: China will contribute to solving the crisis of the European Union.

As written, it seems that the Asian nation will make a gesture of kindness toward old Europe and its poor unemployed.

Wouldn’t it have been more honest to say that it will rescue — out of pure self-interest — the global economic “order,” just as it systematically poisons the environment?

Also, if it’s going to pull the EU out of the mud, why not also call for the elimination of tariffs and obstacles imposed against the development of solar energy, like the news mentioned earlier in this post?

This is all very absurd and inconsistent, typical when trying to defend the indefensible and after having told so many lies that it has become difficult to stop. The Granma guys are trying hard but the task assigned to them is Herculean.

Beyond them and those who believe them, it’s up to the active readers of Granma to read between the lines and draw conclusions. Our media’s maneuvers around China, for example, can give an idea of where Cuba’s “socialist” leaders want to lead the “updating” of the economic model.

I will leave some links to articles (in Spanish) that deal with Chinese greenhouse gas emissions.

• China, the country that generates the most CO₂ emissions in the world

• China forbids its airlines pay for CO₂ emissions

• China overtakes US as the country with the most CO₂ emissions

• CO₂ emissions: China in first place

• Map of CO₂ emissions. China off the charts