Economic globalization does encounter some challenges, but it is irresponsible to createconflicts by exaggerating those problems, People’s Daily commented on Wednesday, refuting the malicious voices against the economic globalization by some Westernpoliticians.
The commentary, under the byline of “Zhongsheng”, came after French far-right leaderMarine Le Pen attacked globalization in her presidential election manifesto last weekend.
As candidate of the National Front, Le Pen told supporters in Lyon, the third largest city ofFrance, that globalization was slowly choking communities to death. Globalization, shesaid, meant "manufacturing by slaves for selling to the unemployed".
She is the latest European politician to preach anti-globalization in mainstream politics ofthe Western world by making use of public's dissatisfaction with the current situation, thearticle said.
Such examples over the past year also included the Brexit, 2016 US election, and thepresidential campaigns of France and Germany, the paper added.
Sluggish economy, which has resulted in aggravated contradictions between growth anddistribution, capital and labor, as well as efficiency and equity, is the root cause of therising trend of anti-globalization in the Western world, the commentary noted, but itpointed out at the same time that politics is also a reason that cannot be ignored.
Most of the countries in favor of anti-globalization are first of all hindered by economicdevelopment and wealth distribution. Thereafter, these economic issues are politicized, ultimately leading to severe social disruption.
Populists are at their weakest in the tedious matter of sound government, said FinancialTimes column writer Janan Ganesh in his recent article. Such point of view is indeed atimely reminder for the European countries which have lost their direction.
Rome mayor Virginia Raggi is a better example to interpret the difference betweencatharsis and governance, the paper said, explaining that the performance of the far-rightmayor was far worse than her commitments during the election campaign in 2016. Eventhe waste disposal of the city was in a mess under her governance.
National elections of France, Germany, the Netherlands and many other Europeancountries will fall in the year of 2017, meaning that they will stand at a new crossroad fortheir countries’ development.
The paper believed that reform will still be the theme of the campaigns given thatdevelopment fatigue is still prevalent in the continent. However, these countries shouldthink twice before they make a decision.
Anti-globalization, favored by extreme right-wing politicians, will only cause moreproblems, as economic globalization is a natural outcome of productivity and technologicalprogress rather than a creation of any individual or country, it pointed out,stressingthateconomic globalization’s contributions to human progress could not be denied bycomplaints of some politicians.
The paper suggested that facing with the irresistible trend of economic globalization, thewise choice would be to start from national conditions and follow the tide.
Each party should make efforts to bring benefits of economic globalization to countriesand people around the world by integrating itself into the globe and pursuing efficiencyand equity, the article concluded.
