Sell your soul

Now that I can post, thanks to my new best friend, I will.

Headline in today's China Daily: Hu: China to provide US$10b for poor countries

Suspicious? Here's the catch:

"Hu said in order to increase assistance to other developing countries, China has decided to accord zero tariff treatment to certain products from all the 39 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) having diplomatic relations with China, covering most of the China-bound exports from these countries."

So, what are the conditions for having diplomatic relations with China? As the Vatican found out:

"As usual, China also repeated one of its own conditions for diplomatic relations: that the Holy See sever its relations with Taiwan. "

So that's it really. If you want a piece of the Chinese pie, you have to sell your soul to Mr. Hu Jintao first. But hey, many coutries have done so, prefering to line their own pockets rather than stand up for their beliefs, like democracy, freedom and the right to have a Starbucks on every corner.