|
I REFER to Mr Paul Krugman's article, 'The bottom line is China' (ST, Jan 5). Mr Krugman lamented that the current crop of United States presidential candidates has put too much focus on Sept 11 and the quagmire in Iraq. That, to him, is a misplaced focus. He argued that more attention in American foreign policy should be given to the rising power and influence of China.
I can understand Mr Krugman's concern, but what he should not have done is to place an unfair blame on China for the current high oil price.
According to him, 'oil at US$100 per barrel, in a large part, is a made-in-China phenomenon'. China may have contributed to the rising cost of fuel, but Mr Krugman conveniently omitted the fact that Americans, for a long time, have been the main culprits in consuming most of the earth's non-renewable fossil fuel resources.
Americans make up of about 5 per cent of the world's population, yet they burn up about one-quarter of the world's oil supply. On average, one American consumes 12 times as much fuel resources as a Chinese and 30 times as much as an Indian.
Perhaps what the next president of the US should do, besides looking at the rising power of China, and we should add, India, is to take the lead in accepting greater responsibility in cutting down on wasteful lifestyles and consumption of the limited natural resources of our common home - planet Earth.
Daniel Koh Kah Soon
|
