Havana may be a looking-glass kind of place. Still, occasionally its
topsy-turvey view of the world can force you back to first principles.
Take the eurozone crisis. One country, Germany, wants to assume the role of budget overlord in the economic area. Member states will also be subject to strict economic criteria set from an unelected central authority – in this case Brussels.
It might have gone largely unnoticed. But there was a sting in the opening remarks made by Jia Qinglin to African heads of state at their annual summit.
The sting was aimed in Europe’s direction. Mr Jia, the fourth-ranking member of China’s ruling communist party, made much of Africa’s rich history and culture and of China’s long and brotherly relationship with the continent in his speech at the brand new $200m-headquarters Beijing had gifted to the African Union. Africa was the cradle of mankind, he reminded the audience.
By Gideon Rachman
If nothing else, Newt Gingrich’s campaign for the US presidency has contributed an excellent new phrase to the language. His coinage – “pious baloney” – kept popping into my head in Davos last week, every time I saw the World Economic Forum’s ubiquitous slogan: “Committed to improving the state of the world”.
| About this blog | About Gideon | Blog guide |
FT latest world news
For views and opinions on the European Union from Peter Spiegel, Joshua Chaffin, Alex Barker and Stanley Pignal, follow the FT's Brussels blog here.
The FT's Global Insight column
