Chinese investments – reading list

[SERBIAN BELOW]

As you know, this blog dealt with China’s influence in Serbia. Below is an overview of the various topics covered:

1. “Notes on the next global crisis” (in English, August 11, 2019) – here I talked about the upcoming crisis (which later coincided with the pandemic COVID -19) as a result of not solving the crisis in 2008. China actually played a major positive role in regulating the crisis through huge fiscal stimulus, but as a result, huge unused capacity of Chinese construction and other industries were created, which were later solved through the expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative, and in Serbia, this was perceived through the lens of imperialism. The latter should be explored further, but here are the basics, i.e., an overview of the possible causes of the crisis – at least as far as they were seen in August 2019.
2. “How the world is dismantling China due to the global pandemic” (in English, May 8, 2020) – this is where I first talked about anti-Chinese propaganda and what it has to do with reshaping global value chains and how much the pressure on China (through the Trump taxes on Chinese products at the time) puts additional pressure on the exploitation of low-wage labor in China itself and even has a counter effect in terms of tightening social relations within China. Like the previous article, this one is more of an overview of the situation than a detailed analysis.
3. “On the Renaissance of Anti-Communism” (in Serbian, October 25, 2020) – here I briefly discussed some legal changes in both the US and the UK regarding the settlement of Chinese citizens and communist literature.
4. “On China through Serbia: Kostolac B” (in Serbian, November 4, 2020) – this is an interesting note from the trip or tour of Chinese investments through Serbia – Bora, Kostolac and Smederevo. I did not visit Linglong because there was literally only one canteen for the workers at the time). Here are a lot of pictures and some information about what the construction site looks like, the workers, the living conditions of the workers, etc.
5. “China and Super-monopolies” (in Serbian, November 4, 2020) – here I presented an interesting “detail” that is not often discussed: how anti-Chinese propaganda is used before the European Commission as a pretext for further monopolization of European companies after the failed attempt to merge Siemens and French Alstom (the railroad giant).
6. “Linglong in Zrenjanin: Environmental pollution according to Feng Shui” (in Serbian and English, December 2, 2020) – here I reported in detail about “Linglong” for Mašina portal. I gathered pretty much everything that could be found in terms of data about the company and working conditions, and presented the structure of the investment itself. I created a visual presentation of the data based on the National Bank of Serbia reports, and as far as I know, this is the first time that “international economic and technical cooperation groups” have been written about in Serbia, i.e. Chinese dispatch agencies that send about a million workers abroad every year. I should write more about them, because they are still quite unexplored, and their working conditions are very questionable (here Chinese workers generally work without rest periods or vacations).
7. “Eco-imperialism: the global relocation of pollution” (in Serbian, January 26, 2021) – here I wrote about the fact that with the relocation of Chinese industry abroad, pollution is also being relocated, and that the attempts to achieve a “green Asia” and the like must be seen in the context of this global phenomenon. I used Serbia as an example (the text got a lot of attention thanks to a local Serbian influencer).
8. “Outsourcing of environmental degradation? Environmental degradation related to Chinese projects in the Balkans” (in English, April 19, 2021) – I gave this presentation as part of the work in the COST project at the China in Europe Research Network (CHERN). There I gave an overview of almost all Chinese projects in the Balkans in the field of lignite power plants and energy. The presentation focused on the inclusion of empirical data without deeper theoretical elaboration.
9. “Anti-Chinese propaganda in Serbia: how not to criticize China” (in Serbian, August 18, 2021) – here are some examples of demonstrably false propaganda against China in Serbia. It is mainly about anti-communism and accusations of colonialism. I think that these accusations are justified to some extent, but they are definitely not based on reality, and that is where the problem lies. In short, if you want to criticize China, you have to eliminate this kind of propaganda first.
10. “Some statistics on the Chinese working class in Serbia” (in Serbian, August 24, 2021) – this is the data I received through the National Labor Office, and it mainly concerns Chinese dispatched workers in Serbia. Besides a brief discussion of what these statistics mean and what they do not mean, the conclusion is that the dynamics of their entry have increased sharply since 2018. I explored the reasons for this in “Unfree Labor, from Hanoi to Belgrade,” published December 23, 2021.
11. “There are plans to settle 3,000 Chinese in Ečka”… only we do not even know if they are Chinese or how many of them there are, and we did not even mention Linglong” (in Serbian, September 21, 2021) – this is a rebuttal of the fake news of the “Građanski preokret”, a local activist NGO from Zrenjanin, where the Chinese factory of Linglong is located. This fake news was later spread by Agency Beta, Radio021, Nova ekonomija and other mass portals. On the basis of nothing, it was claimed that Chinese nationals would live in a housing complex that is not even ready, and this was presented in a way that aroused fear, with comments usually being about how China wants to “change the ethnic structure of Serbia” and the like.
12. “Beyond the China Threat” (in English, October 14, 2021) – Here I participated in a panel discussion on the so-called narrative of China as a threat, organized by the “Transnational Institute” from Amsterdam. In the panel, I talked about some aspects of China’s development since the 1970s and during the 2000s (in particular, how the problems of overcapacity in various sectors of the Chinese economy today need to be understood through the 2008 crisis and what this means for investments in Serbia and the Balkans).
13. “Under the surface: ping-pong of Linglong” (in Serbian and English, October 25, 2021) – this is the N1 documentary about Linglong, made by the great editor Maja Nikolić, with whom I roughly went through the content of the whole documentary based on my text (from point 6), at least as far as the shift of pollution is concerned, and I also participated as one of the interlocutors. I do not usually post press releases and such here, but I received important documentation and learned a lot from Maja, and I will always remember it as a great collaboration. My only regret is that the documentary did not last longer because some parts were cut, but it is still valuable as a kind of introduction to Chinese investments using Linglong in Serbia as an example. The English version is available here.
14. “Call for Solidarity with Workers of Vietnamese and Other Origin” (in Serbian, November 17, 2021) – this was one of the first calls for solidarity at a time when it was not yet certain whether there would be mass support, because initially no one organized except a small circle of Marxist activists around the Zrenjanin Social Forum and two leftist places. The text shared information about where help in the form of food and blankets could be collected in Novi Sad, Belgrade and Zrenjanin, as well as about 750 Vietnamese workers living in disgusting conditions in the industrial zone in Zrenjanin. In addition, the text addressed myths about foreign workers and mentioned similar experiences of domestic workers. The text was later published on the websites of Autonomija and Danas.
15. “Unfree Labor, from Hanoi to Belgrade: Chinese investment and Labor Dispatch in the Case of 750 Workers from Vietnam” (in English, December 23, 2021) – this blog post is actually not written for a blog, but represents the first academic paper published on the topic of Chinese international labor dispatch to Serbia, and is one of the few papers on the topic, thus an unusual text in the field of contemporary economic history. I would be glad if it could help journalists or lawyers in any way. The text begins with the history of the institutionalization of the use of labor in China after the death of Mao Zedong. It then traces the emergence of the Serbian side of the story by demonstrating that the influx of labor followed the influx of Chinese investment. Finally, by comparing data from the National Labor Office, responses from Linglong management, research by journalists, and legal regulations, he manages to paint a basic picture of the arrival of Chinese labor in Serbia and why it was “outsourced” to the Vietnamese. Finally, this question is placed in the context of debates on unfree forms of labor in order to outline what legal regulations might govern this issue in the coming years. Finally, further research is urged in this context. The paper was published as part of the monograph: “Institutional changes in the economy of Serbia through history”, (ed. Minović, J., Kočović De Santo, M., Matković, A.), Institute of Economic Sciences, Belgrade, pp. 114-134. P.S. The literature list was removed from the blogpost so as not to overburden it, but some informative images have been insterted so that English-speaking reader might get some sense of the places that I’m talking about.
16. “Vietnamese Workers – the Past and/or the Future of Labor Rights in Serbia,” Media Center Belgrade (in Serbian, January 28, 2022) – media conference on the case of Vietnamese workers and the new information I received regarding their work permits.
17. “Linglong: China, EU & Serbia Seen Through the Lens of a Single Factory” (in English, May 19, 2022) – this is a lecture on the history of Linglong, as an example of the development of economic conflicts between the EU, China and Serbia. From a small car repair store in the late seventies to one of the world’s leading tire manufacturers with several factories whose production is regulated by the so-called “cloud server” to control labor and materials, to the exploitation of the Vietnamese in Zrenjanin, this company served as an excellent example to tell the story of Serbia in the conflict between China and the EU. The lecture was given as part of the China series of the Institute for Labor Studies in Ljubljana in 2022.
18. “Linglong and the Case of 750 Vietnamese Workers in Serbia: Research Brief No. 02/2022” (in English, May 24, 2022) – this is a short review of a scholarly paper on Vietnamese workers and the Chinese labor dispatch system (from point 14. in this list) written for the Center for Asian Studies’ China, Law and Development project at the University of Oxford, in which I am a research associate in the Labor Rights and Migration Cluster.
19. “Between Zrenjanin and Hanoi: China’s labor dispatch system and the case of 750 workers from Vietnam – a review of a scholarly paper” (in Serbian, 2. September 2022) – this is also a short review of a scholarly paper on the Vietnamese, with additional comments on the notion that Chinese and other workers are “colonizers” and refuting the thesis that China exports labor, which is nonsense because all the data show that there is a labor shortage in Serbia, as a result of which Chinese agencies import cheap labor from Vietnam.
20. “Discourse analysis of ideological stances on Chinese investments in Serbia 2018-2022 – pilot study” (in English, October 7, 2022) – this is a study on media portrayal of Chinese capital in Serbia, based on a pilot study conducted during a research stay in Amsterdam as part of the China in Europe Research Network (CHERN). The pilot study included 2,360 titles in “Danas” and the portal “Zrenjaninski.com”. The results showed diametrically opposite conclusions, as it turned out that Linglong paid “Zrenjaninski.com” to publish a better picture of his investment, which was all the more cynical as it happened at a time when 750 Vietnamese were without food and water. In contrast, the dominant narrative in “Danas” is fear of China in general, and an analysis of the authorship of the texts has shown that there is an absolute polarization when it comes to views on China and Chinese investment: almost all headlines originating from the government suggest a positive attitude towards China, i.e. the government is the author of 75% of almost all texts when it comes to propagating Chinese investment, and even 80% when it comes to propagating good relations, and 100% when it comes to the army, while the narrative of “fear of China” is written by foreign sources (46% come from foreign sources), the author texts by journalists (38%) and civil society organizations (14%). The results are presented graphically for both papers, and a discourse analysis with historical examples was conducted to round out the study of Chinese capital in Serbia.
21. “Is China Stepping into Tito’s Moment of 1974? A note on China and Yugoslavia” (in English, November 9, 2022) – a brief note on something interesting that struck me: that in both China and Yugoslavia, that is, in both cases, there were party initiatives after the economic reform to “bring back” Marxism, that is, to bring ideological unity to the public. I review here some similarities and differences, even though it is an outline for future research rather than a finished text.
22. “The Myth of Serbia’s Chinese Debt: Why the Media is Spreading Groundless Panic” (in Serbian, November 26, 2022) – this short piece serves to highlight the sources, or lack of sources, when assessing the nature and size of Serbia’s debt to China and to challenge the portrayal of Chinese loans as the sole and exclusive threat to Serbia.
23. “All Roads Lead to Beijing? Shifts in Chinese Labour and Capital During the COVID-19 Pandemic” (in English, February 17, 2023) – an article in the peer-reviewed “Asian Journal of Comparative Law” published by Cambridge University Press which I wrote along with two other researchers (Ying Wu and Leigha Crout) as part of a special issue on Chinese globalization during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was initiated by the “China, Law and Development” project at the Oxford University, of which the three of us are part of. The article analyses capital and labor mobility in three under-researched case studies of China’s main partners: Africa, the Balkans and Chinese border regions and we noted in which sense the governing of said mobility was changed during the pandemic (how migrations were regulated by local Chinese laws and the laws of host states, the role of Embassies, the number of workers, etc. who move between China and these states).
24. “China’s Working Class: a Symptom of Serbia? (March 15, 2023) – a short lecture I delivered at the “Serbia’s Choice: EU, China or Russia?” international workshop held at the Faculty of Political Sciences as part of PhD research that a student of mine from Warsaw was conducing on the same topic. There I talked about the two waves of labor migration, the formation of China’s industrial working class in Serbia, what China’s working class means. In the end I talked about Sinophobia as a reaction to increasing labor dispatch into Serbia.

Aleksandar Matković

[SRPSKA VERZIJA]

Kao što znate, ovaj blog se bavio uticajem Kine u Srbiji. Radi pregleda, ovde ispod su različite teme koje su obrađene:

1. Beleške o sledećoj globalnoj krizi (na engleskom, 11. avgust 2019.) – ovde sam govorio o predstojećoj krizi (koja se posle podudarila sa pandemijom COVID-19) kao posledici nerešavanja krize 2008. Kina je zapravo odigrala ogromnu pozitivnu ulogu u regulisanju krize kroz ogromne fiskalne stimuluse, ali su se kao posledica toga stvorili ogromni neiskorišćeni kapaciteti kineske građevinske i ostale industrije koja se posle rešavala kroz ekspanziju inicijative “Pojas i put”, a kod nas se percipirala kroz optiku imperijalizma,. Ovo poslednje bi trebalo dodatno istražiti, ali ovde se nalaze osnove odnosno pregled potencijalnih uzroka krize – koliko se barem moglo videti u avgustu 2019.
2. Kako svet razmontirava Kinu povodom globalne pandemije (na engleskom, 8. maj 2020.) – ovde sam govorio prvi put o antikineskoj propagandi i kakve ona ima veze sa prekrojavanjem globalnih lanaca vrednosti te o tome koliko pritisak na Kinu (kroz tadašnje Trampove poreze na kineske proizvode) dodatno pritiska eksploataciju nisko plaćene radne snage u samoj Kini i zapravo ima kontraefekat u smislu zaoštravanja socijalnih odnosa unutar Kine. Kao i prethodni post, ovo uglavnom predstavlja “overview” situacije pre nego detaljnu analizu.
3. O renesansi antikomunizma (na srpskom, 25. oktobar 2020.) – ovde sam ukratko ispratio nekoliko zakonskih promena i SAD i UK povodom nastanjivanja kineskih državljanja i komunističke literature.
4. O Kini kroz Srbiju: “Kostolac B” (na srpskom, 4. novembar 2020.) – ovo je zanimljiva beleška sa puta odnosno obilaska kineskih investicija kroz Srbiju – Bora, Kostolac i Smederevo. Linglong nisam pošto se tamo bukvalno nalazila samo kantina za radnike). Ovde ima dosta slika i nekoliko informacija o tome kako fizički izgleda gradilište, radnici, radnički uslovi života, itd.
5. Kina i supermonopoli (na srpskom, 4. novembar 2020.) – ovde sam izneo zanimljiv “detalj” o kojem se ne govori često: o tome kako se pred Evropskom komisijom antikineska propaganda koristi kao izgovor za dodatnu monopolizaciju evropskih kompanija nakon neuspelog pokušaja sinteze Simensa i francuskom Alstoma (železničkog giganta).
6. “Linglong” u Zrenjaninu: zagađenje po feng šuiju (na srpskom i engleskom, 2. decembar 2020.) – ovde sam detaljno pokrio “Linglong” za portal Mašina. Otprilike sam okupio sve što se moglo naći od podataka o firmi, radničkim uslovima i samu investiciju prikazao kroz delove (koliko odlazi na šta). Napravio sam vizualne predstave podataka na osnovu izveštanja Narodne banke Srbije i koliko znam, ovde se po prvi put pisalo o “Međunarodnim ekonomsko-tehničkim grupama za kooperaciju” odnosno kineskim agencijama za zapošljavanje koje godišnje liferuju oko milion radnika u inostranstvo. O tome bi trebalo dodatno da pišem pošto su dosta neistražene, a radni uslovi kod njih su vrlo upitni (kod nas kineski radnici uglavnom rade bez odmora ili praznika).
7. Eko-imperijalizam: globalno izmeštanje zagađenja (na srpskom, 26. januar 2021.) – ovde sam pisao o tome kako se uporedo sa izmeštanjem kineske industrije van Kine izmešta i zagađenje te da bi pokušaji da se dostigne “Zelena Azija” i slično morali da se sagledaju zajedno sa ovim globalnim fenomenom. Kao primer sam uzeo Srbiju (tekst se dosta šerovao zahvaljujući influenserki Tatjani Angel).
8. Outsourcing pollution? Environmental degradation related to Chinese projects in the Balkans (na engleskom, 19. april 2021.) – ovo predavanje sam održao u sklopu rada u okviru COST projekta pri mreži evropskih i kineskih istraživača (CHERN). Tu sam dao pregled gotovo svih kineskih projekata na Balkanu u oblasti lignitskih termoelektrana i energetike. Predavanje se fokusiralo na obuhvatanje empirijskih podataka bez dublje teorijske razrade.
9. Antikineska propaganda u Srbiji: kako ne kritikovati Kinu (na srpskom, 18. avgust 2021.) – ovde se nalaze nekoliko primera dokazano lažne propagande protiv Kine u Srbiji. Uglavnom se radi o antikomunizmu i optužbama za kolonijalizam. Dok mislim da su one donekle opravdane, definitivno nisu utemeljene u realnosti, a u tome leži problem. Ukratko, da bi se Kina kritikovala, mora se prvo odstraniti ovakva propaganda.
10. “Nekoliko statistika povodom kineske radničke klase u Srbiji” (na srpskom, 24. avgust 2021.) – ovde su izneti podaci koje sam dobio preko Nacionalne službe za zapošljavanje, a tiču se uglavnom tzv. “upućenih radnika” u Srbiji. Pored kratke diskusije o tome šta ove statistike znače, a šta ne znače, zaključak je da je dinamika njihovog ulaska naglo počela da raste od 2018. godine. Razloge toga sam razmotrio u “Unfree labor, from Hanoi to Belgrade” koji je objavljen 23. decembra 2021. godine.
11. “Planira se naseljavanje 3000 Kineza u Ečki”… samo što ne znamo ni da li su Kinezi ni koliko ih ima, a Linglong nismo ni pomenuli (na srpskom, 21. septembra 2021.) – ovo je demant lažne vesti Građanskog preokreta, koju su potom prenele Agencija Beta, Radio021, Nova ekonomija i drugi portali. Na osnovu ničega se tvrdilo da će se jedna nacija naseljavati u stambenom kompleksu koji nije ni gotov, a to predstavilo kroz strah.
12. “Beyond the China Threat” (na engleskom, 14. oktobra 2021.) – Ovde sam učestvovao na panelu povodom tzv. narativa Kine kao pretnje koji je organizovao “Transnational Institute” iz Amsterdama. U okviru panela sam govorio o nekim aspektima razvoja Kine od sedamdesetih i u toku dvehiljaditih (konkretno kako se problemi prekomernog kapaciteta u različitim industrijama kineske ekonomije danas moraju razumeti preko krize iz 2008. i šta to znači za investicije u Srbiji i Balkanu).
13. “Ispod površine: ping-pong Linglonga” (na srpskom i na engleskom, 25. oktobar 2021.) – ovo je dokumentarac N1 o Linglongu koji je radila sjajna urednica Maja Nikolić, sa kojom sam otprilike prolazio sadržaj celog dokumentarca na temelju mog teksta (iz tačke 6.) barem kada je reč o izmeštanju zagađenja, a učestvovao sam i kao jedan od sagovornika. Obično ne kačim ovde medijske izjave i slično, ali od Maje sam dobio ključnu dokumentaciju i jako sam puno toga naučio te ću uvek pamtiti kao sjajnu saradnju. Jedino mi je žao što dokumentarac nije duže trajao, jer su isečeni neki delovi, ali je i pored toga i dalje vredan kao svojevrsan uvod u kineske investicije na primeru Linglonga u Srbiji. Engleska verzija je dostupna ovde.
14. “Poziv na solidarnost sa radnicima Vijetnamskog i drugog porekla” (na srpskom, 17. novembar 2021.) – ovo je bio jedan od prvih poziva na solidarnost u trenutku kada nije bilo izvesno da li će biti masovne podrške jer je u početku niko nije ni organizovao osim malog kruga marksističkih aktivista oko Zrenjaninskog socijalnog foruma i dve levičarske lokacije. U tekstu su podeljene informacije o tome gde bi se mogla prikupljati pomoć u vidu hrane i ćebadi u Novom Sadu, Beogradu i Zrenjaninu, a povodom 750 Vijetnamskih radnika koji su živeli u odvranim uslovima u industrijskoj zoni u Zrenjaninu. Pored toga u tekstu se bavilo mitovima o stranim radnicima i navedena su slična iskustva domaćih radnika. Tekst je posle objavljen na sajtovima Autonomije odnosno Danasa.
15. “Unfree Labor, from Hanoi to Belgrade: Chinese investment and Labor Dispatch in the Case of 750 Workers from Vietnam” (na engleskom, 23. decembar 2021.) – ovo blogpost zapravo nije napisan za blog nego predstavlja prvi naučni rad objavljen na temu kineskog međunarodnog otpremanja rada u Srbiju i jedan od svega par radova na tu temu inače tako da je u pitanju neobičan tekst iz oblasti savremene ekonomske istorije. Bilo bi mi drago ukoliko bi ikako pomogao novinarima ili pravnicima. Tekst počinje sa istorijom institucionalizacije otpreme rada u Kini posle smrti Mao Cetunga. Potom trasira pojavu srpsku stranu priče kroz dokazivanje da je upliv rada pratio upliv kineskih investicija. U krajnjem, pomoću poređenja podataka od Nacionalne službe za zapošljavanje, odgovora od Linglongovog menadžmenta, istraživanja novinara i pravnih regulacija uspeo da pruži osnovnu sliku o dolasku kineske radne snage u Srbiju i objasni zašto je ona “autsorsovana” Vijetnamcima. U krajnjem, rad postavlja ovo pitanje u kontekst debata o neslobodnim oblicima rada da bi posle ocrtao koje pravne regulative bi mogle regulisati ovo pitanje u narednih nekoliko godina. Na kraju se u tom kontekstu poziva na dalja istraživanja. Rad je objavljen u okviru monografije: “Institucionalne promene ekonomije Srbije kroz istoriju”, (ur. Minović, J., Kočović De Santo, M., Matković, A.), Institut ekonomskih nauka, Beograd, str. 114-134. P.S. U blogpostu je uklonjena literatura i ubačene su slike, tako da bi za sve trebalo
16. “Vijetnamski radnici – prošlost i/ili budućnost radnih prava u Srbiji”, Medija centar Beograd (na srpskom, 28. januar 2022.), medijska konferencija povodom slučaja vijetnamskih radnika i novih podataka do kojih sam došao u vezi sa njihovim radnim dozvolama.
17. “Linglong: China, EU & Serbia seen through the lens of a single factory” (na engleskom, 19. maj 2022.) – ovo je predavanje o istoriji Linglonga, kao primera razvoja ekonomskih konflikata između EU, Kine i Srbije. Počeviši od male garaže za popravku automobila krajem sedamdesetih do jedne od vodećih svetskih proizvođača guma sa nekoliko fabrika čiju proizvodnju reguliše tzv. “cloud server” za usmeravanje radne snage i materijala, do izrabljivanja Vijetnamaca u Zrenjaninu, ova firma je poslužila kao odličan primer da se ispriča priča Srbije u sukobu između Kine i EU. Predavanje je održavano zahvaljujući serijalu o Kini pri Inštitutu za delavske študije u Ljubljani u toku 2022. godine.
18. “Linglong and the Case of 750 Workers from Vietnam in Serbia: Research Brief No. 02/2022” (na engleskom, 24. maj 2022.) – ovo je kratak prikaz naučnog rada o Vijetnamskim radnicima i kineskom sistemu otpreme rada (iz tačke 14.), napisan za “China, Law and Development” projekat Centra za azijske studije pri Univerzitetu u Oksfordu, na kojem sam kao spoljni saradnik uključen u Klaster za radna prava i migracije.
19. “Između Zrenjanina i Hanoja: kineski sistem otpreme rada i slučaj 750 radnika iz Vijetnama – prikaz naučnog rada” (na srpskom, 2. septembar 2022.) – ovo je takođe kratak prikaz naučnog rada o Vijetnamcima, sa dodatim komentarima koji se tiču predstave o kineskim i drugim radnicima kao “kolonizatorima” te pobijanje teze da Kina izvozi radnu snagu, što je besmislica jer svi podaci pokazuju da u Srbiji postoji deficit radne snage usled čega kineske agencije dovlače jeftinu radnu snagu iz Vijetnama.
20. “Discourse analysis of ideological stances on Chinese investments in Serbia 2018-2022 – pilot study” (na engleskom, 7. oktobar 2022.) – ovo je studije medijske reprezentacije kineskog kapitala u Srbiji na osnovu pilot studije izvedene u toku istraživačke posete Amsterdamu u okviru mreže evropsko-kineskih istraživača (CHERN). Pilot studija je obuhvatala 2360 naslova u “Danasu” i portalu “Zrenjaninski.com”. Rezultati su pokazali dijametralno suprotne zaključke jer se ispostavilo da je Linglong plaćao “Zrenjaninski.com” da objavljuje lepšu sliku o svojoj investiciji, što je čak bilo cinično kada se to dešavalo u trenutku kada je 750 Vijetnamaca ostajalo bez hrane i vode. Nasuprot toga, predominantni narativ u “Danasu” je strah od Kine generalno i analizom autorstva nad tekstovima se pokazalo da postoji apsolutna polarizacija kada je reč o pogledima na Kinu i kineske investicije: gotovo svi naslovi koji dolaze od vlade sugerišu pozitivan odnos prema Kini odnosno vlada je autor 75% gotovo svih tekstova kada je reč o propagiranju kineskih investicija i čak 80% kada je reč o propagiranju dobrih odnosa i punih 100% kada je reč o vojsci, dok je narativ “strah od Kine” pisan od strane stranih izvora (46% dolazi od stranih izvora), autorskih tekstova žurnalista (38%) i organizacija građanskog društva (14%). Rezultati su predstavljeni grafikonski za oba lista i urađena je diskursna analiza uz istorijske primere čime je zaokruženo istraživanje kineskog kapitala u Srbiji.
21. “Is China entering Tito’s 1974 moment? A note on China and Yugoslavia” (na engleskom, 9. novembar 2022.) – kratka beleška o nečemu zanimljivom što sam primetio: da je i u Kini i u Jugoslaviji, dakle u oba slučaja, nakon privredne reforme došlo do partijskih inicijativa da se “vrati” marksizam odnosno ideološko jedinstvo na velika vrata. Ovde istražujem neke sličnosti i razlike, premda je više u pitanju nacrt za buduće istraživanje nego gotov tekst.
22. “Mit kineskog duga Srbije: zašto mediji šire paniku bez osnova” (na srpskom, 26. novembar 2022.) – ovaj kratak post služi da pokaže izvore odnosno nedostatak izvora kada je reč o proceni prirode i veličine srpskog duga Kini te da upita narativ o kineskim kreditima kao jedinoj i isključivoj pretnji Srbiji.
23. “Svi putevi vode u Peking? Promene u kineskom radu i kapitalu u toku pandemije COVID-19” (na engleskom, 17. februar 2023.) – ovo je naučni članak u žurnalu “Asian Journal of Comparative Law” koji izdaje Kejmbridž Univerzitet. Članak sam napisao sa dve kineske odnosno američke istraživačice (Ying Wu and Leigha Crout) za posebno izdanje ovog časopisa koje prati kinesku globalizaciju u toku korone, a koju je inicirao projekat “China, Law and Development” pri Univerzitetu u Oksfordu, čiji smo nas troje bili deo. Članak se bavi analizom mobilnosti kapitala i rada u tri malo istražena slučaja kineskih glavnih partnera: Afrike, Balkana i pograničnih područja u Aziji. Tu smo zabeležili načine na koji se mobilnost rada i kapitala menjala u toku pandemije (kako su kineski zakoni regulisali migracije vs kako su ih regulisale njihove domaće države, uloge ambasada, broj radnika, itd. koji se kreću između Kine i ovih zemalja).
24. “Kineska radnička klasa: simptom Srbije? (15 mart 2023.) – ovo je kratko predavanje koje sam održao na međunarodnoj radionici “Izbor Srbije: EU, Kina ili Rusija?” na Fakultetu političkih nauka u sklopu doktorskih istraživanja jednog mog studenta iz Varšave koji je radio istraživanja na istoimenu temu. Tu sam govorio o dva talasa radnih migracija u Srbiju, formiranja kineske industrijske radničke klase u Srbiji i šta kineska radnička klasa uopšte znači. Na kraju sam govorio o sinofobiji kao reakciji na sve veći uvoz kineske radne snage odnosno tzv. upućenih radnika.

Aleksandar Matković

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