Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis points out that since the financial collapse of 2008, there has been no European investment into Greece. Only the Chinese came with money in this investment vacuum in 2008-2023.
He says that Chinese investment has significant advantages and also some disadvantages, but it’s nothing compared to colonial power abuse and exploitation from Europe and America.
Varoufakis:
“There’s been almost no investment in my country since the great financial collapse of 2008. No investment, no real investment in productive activities coming from Europe. Even when they wanted to sell our ports, our trains, our whatever, European companies came here simply to snatch assets in order to sell them again, but never to invest in them.
It was only the Chinese who came here with some money, companies like Costco and the Belt and Road Initiative in the greater area of Italy of Eastern Europe. So the European Union has absolutely no right to try to demonize Chinese investments.
When you have an investment vacuum, just like nature hates a vacuum, something will really do. Chinese money came here. Chinese investments, not just in Greece, but in Africa and so on, they have their great advantages.
They have some disadvantages because whenever foreign money comes into a country, a country has no colonial aspects to it, but nothing like what we’ve had in terms of colonial power and abuse and exploitation from our European masters and our American masters.”