THE EU AND CHINA

EU'S ASHTON CONFRONTS CHINA POVERTY

As Europe seeks closer ties with China, the emerging superpower appears anxious that EU aid and investment should reach beyond its cities.

Michael Bristow

BBC News, September 4, 2010

Guizhou is one of China's most beautiful provinces, with picturesque villages surrounded by forested hills and paddy fields. It is also one of China's poorest regions. Economic development is not as evident here as in other parts of the country.

This poverty is why Chinese officials brought Lady Ashton to Guizhou. The EU is currently reviewing its policies towards Beijing, and China wants Europe to know it still has many major problems to sort out. Lady Ashton, who admitted she had little knowledge of China beyond its trade policies, made it clear she understood the official message. China's carefully choreographed tour took her to a school in the village of Shanping, an hour's drive outside the provincial capital Guiyang. The school's relative poverty is revealed in its poorly dressed children and lack of books.

(...) [artículo aquí]