{"id":101,"date":"2019-06-16T06:34:47","date_gmt":"2019-06-16T10:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/globalreporting2019\/?p=101"},"modified":"2020-07-02T15:51:12","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T19:51:12","slug":"chinese-cash-infusion-praised-by-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commons.princeton.edu\/globalreporting2019\/chinese-cash-infusion-praised-by-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Cash Infusion Praised by Port Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Natalie Nagorski<\/em><\/p>\n

ATHENS – <\/strong>Unlike the rest of the capital region, the port of Piraeus is lined with shiny office buildings and new roads. On the outskirts of a metropolitan area now known for its struggles with the financial crisis, the port of Piraeus terminal is newly renovated, with a Chinese flag flying high above its headquarters.<\/p>\n

In 2008, the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO Group), a Chinese state-owned shipping enterprise, acquired a 35-year franchise right to operate two of Piraeus\u2019 container terminals. Despite protests by Greek workers and pushback from the radical left Syriza political party, the enterprise bought a 67 percent stake in the port authority for $414 million, becoming the primary operator in 2016.<\/p>\n

The investment is a key component of Chinese President Xi Jinping\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative, an effort by the Chinese government to build infrastructure and invest in countries and organizations around the world. Sandwiched between Europe, Asia, and Africa, the port of Piraeus has strategic value for China. President Xi raised the Greek port in his speech at the 2017 Belt and Road Forum<\/a>, and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visited China twice following the investment.<\/p>\n

COSCO\u2019s involvement at the port coincided with the European debt crisis and an unemployment rate hovering around 25 percent in Greece. Resistance towards Chinese investment in Piraeus is now largely gone, replaced instead with a sense of gratitude from Greek workers.<\/p>\n

Tasos Paulopoulos is a port agent for Inchcape Shipping Services. He has worked in the COSCO-owned container terminal for several years. He said he is glad the Greek government handed ownership of the port over to the Chinese state-owned enterprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good thing about COSCO is that they organize the port,\u201d Paulopoulos said. \u201cGreeks couldn\u2019t do that because it was under government management.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The economic crisis made finding jobs in the shipping sector difficult for Greeks, with one in four citizens out of work. Estimates show, however, that China has invested $9.88 billion<\/a> in the Greek economy over the past 10 years, with two-thirds of that amount falling within the transportation sector.<\/p>\n

Alexis Papahelas, executive editor of the leading Greek newspaper Kathimerini<\/em> and an anchor for Skai TV<\/em>, supported\u00a0 Chinese investment during the crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeggars are not choosers,\u201d Papahelas said, referring to economic support for the port. \u201cThe only people who invested during the financial crisis were Chinese.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet the Chinese investment in the port of Piraeus has consequences that extend beyond the barriers of the terminal. Papahelas pointed to growing Chinese influence in the region. He said he doubts a Chinese military fleet would ever land at the port, but that China has exerted its leverage elsewhere.<\/p>\n

At a United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in 2017, shortly after the COSCO Group investment, the European Union abstained from criticizing China<\/a> on human rights abuses for the first time.<\/p>\n

Workers at the port, like Penny Christodoulopoulou, are grateful for the new dock worker positions that have been created since the Greek government handed operations at the terminal over to COSCO. Christodoulopoulou has been working at a terminal shop for five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cCOSCO makes positions, they create jobs for people,\u201d she said. \u201cFor Greek people, and for Chinese also.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panagiotis Grammatikopoulos, another port agent for Inchcape Shipping company, has lived in Piraeus for his entire life, and has worked at the port for the past decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis period, the last about 10 years, it\u2019s not like years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom other countries, you see that we have new business, we have new roads, we have new trains; everything is new in Piraeus.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Natalie Nagorski ATHENS – Unlike the rest of the capital region, the port of Piraeus is lined with shiny office buildings and new roads. On the outskirts of a metropolitan area now known for its struggles with the financial crisis, the port of Piraeus terminal is newly renovated, with a Chinese flag flying high<\/p>\n

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