Are the Chinese Being Paranoid or Realistic?
FirstPost.co.uk
While Beijing expects to welcome half-a-million overseas spectators to the coming Olympic Games, which it is promoting with the touchy-feely tagline 'One World, One Dream', foreigners based in China's most cosmopolitan metropolis, Shanghai, are suffering the fall-out from official paranoia.
Even though many of them are married to Chinese nationals, or legitimately own their own homes in the city, 20 per cent of non-Chinese residents are believed to have left - for the summer, at least - because of draconian new visa requirements and denials on extensions of residence or work permits.
Authorities claim the clampdown is essential to security, stating concerns about protests that marred the Olympic torch rally and threats of terrorism.
China is in the midst of a historic economic boom. Her major oil supplier is Iran, threatened with US invasion. Already making Euros the exchange medium for oil transactions [instead of dollars], Iran has promised to close the Straits of Hormuz if attacked. If they do, China’s expansion will come to a halt.