The recent fire in the Amazon rainforest always feels like a distant story far away from Wan Li. But with the deepening of local reports, I also became restless. In Hong Kong, I really felt the "butterfly effect" of this rainforest fire.
Western media began to accuse China and Hongkong of causing fires in the Amazon rainforest. Their logic is that Brazil is a big beef producer in the world, while the beef imported by Hongkong and China from Brazil accounts for 24% and 19% of Brazil's total export respectively, and Egypt ranks third, accounting for 1 1%. These two big countries consume nearly half of Brazil's beef exports.
▲ Brazilian beef is favored by consumers in China.
Although it is difficult for us to fully accept the western practice of throwing pots in China, it is an indisputable fact that China people are becoming more and more "carnivores" with the improvement of people's economic living standards. What surprises me even more is that Hong Kong, a tiny place with a population of only 7.5 million, has such a large import volume.
This reminds me of India. Two years ago, the population of this country reached 65.438+34 billion, catching up with China. 20 18 April, the leaders of China and India held an informal meeting in Wuhan, and Indian Prime Minister Moody's was still promoting his agricultural products to China. In 20 18, the bilateral trade volume between China and India reached 95.5 billion US dollars, but the trade deficit between India and China exceeded 50 billion US dollars.
It is reported that India will export high-quality agricultural products to China this year to reduce the trade deficit. India can do this because India's two agricultural "green revolutions" have been successful and basically solved the problem of self-sufficiency; Second, 80% of India's population are Hindus and are typical vegetarians. They don't need so many pastures, and they don't need soybean meal, which is cattle feed.
20 10 April, I was sent to Brazil to cover the BRICS summit. Due to the serious volcanic eruption in Iceland that year, the whole sky over Europe was covered with volcanic ash, and the plane connecting from Europe to China could not take off on time. While staying in Brazil, my friends and I flew to the Amazon River for an interview.
Starting from Sao Paulo, it was afternoon when we arrived in Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon basin. Because of the heavy rain, the Amazon River in front of us is far from being muddy to the edge, which is somewhat disappointing.
The next morning, the sun was blazing, and I came to the equator for the first time in my life, and I really felt the care and warmth of the sun. The Amazon river in front of us was enchanted, which was completely different from the Amazon we saw on the first day. I was stunned by the miracle of nature. This is not a river, but a sea!
▲ The beautiful and vast Amazon River.
In the internet age, seeing is believing has become so convenient, but seeing may not be believing, and there may not be truth in pictures. If I left Amazon that day, I think my understanding of it will only stay in obscurity, but the Amazon I saw the next day completely changed my understanding of it, and I realized its beauty, its boldness, its breadth and its tolerance for everything.
In Brazil's tourism market, butterfly specimens are the most common. Colorful flowers are lifelike. Although their lives have stopped, these specimens bear the subtlety and biodiversity beauty of Amazon. Indian tribes pass by me from time to time, and the trees floating in the water present the original wild Amazon to me.
A friend who has worked in Brazil for many years told me that the area where Manaus is located is only a tributary of Amazon, and it gets wider and wider as it goes down. Every year, Arab countries have a war of words with Brazil. Because the Amazon River is rich in fresh water resources, accounting for one fifth of human beings, a huge amount of water flows to the vast Atlantic Ocean every day, and the estuary 150 km is a fresh water area. The velocity of the Amazon is 7 times faster than that of the Yangtze River, and the width of some reaches exceeds 12 km.
The Amazon River is completely different from the Yangtze River, and there is no levee. Rivers naturally fluctuate with the dry season and the wet season, and the maximum difference between the two seasons is as high as18m. With the arrival of the rainy season, the water surface naturally unfolds, and flood control and drainage are hard to find in Brazilian dictionaries. Arab countries secretly put fresh water in the estuary and transport it back to China, which is much lower than the cost of local seawater desalination. This move caused dissatisfaction in Brazil. After all, it belongs to Brazil's exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles and is suspected of infringing on Brazil's economic interests.
According to local people in Brazil, the main crops in Brazil in the past were coffee and corn. Later, with the help of the Japanese, Brazil cultivated the soybean variety 16, which can grow in the tropics and has a good yield. Since then, soybean cultivation has become the main agricultural product in Brazil. After the Sino-US trade war started, China also turned his attention to Brazil. It is said that soybean production in Brazil is also mainly controlled by American capital.
▲ Brazilian farmers harvest soybeans
Spring is coming in South America, and the annual spring ploughing is about to begin. According to CNN, it is a long-term farming habit for farmers to set fire to the ground, "so that new crops and livestock can survive better." This year's fire has become an international event, even an international crisis, which needs to be solved by two summits.
One is the just-concluded summit of the Group of Seven in France; The other is the upcoming summit in Colombia on September 6th, where countries directly related to the Amazon fire will discuss the fire-fighting countermeasures. Brazilian President Bolsonaro has ordered a ban on burning for 60 days from August 29th.
The name Brazil is a foreign word which means mahogany. A large number of redwoods were shipped back to Europe from here to make all kinds of furniture. The place where mahogany is produced becomes a place name.
Just like China's English name, there is another explanation: China's porcelain has been continuously transported to Europe, and it has become a luxury item for European aristocrats to collect. Porcelain comes from Changnan (China, later named Jingdezhen), and China has been handed down since then.
Which statement is closer to the truth is still a matter of opinion in academic circles. But in any case, China and Brazil, one producing porcelain and the other producing mahogany, are still fashionable for the European aristocrats of that year.
20 10 in April, Brazil became the first country to host the BRICS summit. South Africa was formally invited to join after the first four-nation summit held in Yekaterinburg in 2009. The concept of "BRICS" put forward by O 'Neill 200 1, chief economist of Goldman Sachs Group, has officially become a regular meeting mechanism of BRICS countries on the international stage, and it is also a major symbol of the group rise of emerging powers. During the interview in Brazil, Brazilians' pride in joining the BRICS mechanism was everywhere.
Brazil has a vast territory and abundant resources, ranking fifth in the world in terms of area (85 1 10,000 square kilometers) and population (210.5 million). The development potential is huge, but it has also fallen into the "resource curse". Brazil's national flag is a tricolor flag, blue represents the blue sky, green represents the forest (Brazil's forest coverage rate exceeds 60%), and yellow represents minerals.
▲ Brazilian President Bolsonaro
▲ Brazil Carnival
Brazil's soil is acidic, and the proportion of women in China is more than 97: 103. Many families have a "middle-aged crisis", and it is very common to reorganize families, which is extremely unfavorable to the growth of children in adolescence. Many students drop out of school and the crime rate remains high.
When dating a Brazilian, punctuality is not important, but happiness is important. "Only when you are happy is the best time to meet each other." At least a few cups of coffee are exciting. When chatting with Brazilians, don't show confusion, or they will talk endlessly until you have a satisfactory answer. Brazilians are "moonlight people", and beaches, beautiful women and bikinis are the standard for Brazilian landscape photos. The carnival of life is vividly reflected here.
People in China often say that joy begets sorrow, which has been confirmed in Brazil in recent years. It reached the middle income level in the 1970s, but it is still in the trap. 1985, Brazil ended its military rule and entered the so-called democratic era. But the immature democracy has also paid a heavy price for Brazil.
During Lula's administration (from 2003 to the end of 20 10), Brazilians enjoyed a rare good time. Lula abandoned the neo-liberal economic policy, vigorously increased exports, increased infrastructure construction, and worked hard to solve problems such as education, employment, housing, and the disparity between the rich and the poor. He is also very friendly to China.
▲ Former Brazilian President Lula was arrested in 20 17, but his supporters still hope that he will participate in the general election in 20 18.
20 1 1 The ruling Rousseff is no longer lucky. The American financial crisis is fermenting all over the world, and the prices of oil and iron ore are falling rapidly. In order to meet the high welfare, a high tax rate had to be levied, which led to a large number of foreign capital fleeing and factories closing down. In 20 14 years, Brazil's GDP increased by -3.5%. In this year, Brazil's inflation rate reached 10.4%, and its sovereign rating was BB, which dropped to junk level. In the next year and a half, the real fell by 70%. Brazil's benchmark interest rate reached 14.25%.
O 'Neill, the father of BRIC, pointed out that if Brazil does not improve in the next few years, it will be kicked out of BRIC in 2020.
The chaos in Brazil is worrying, and the bricks are eclipsed. The main reason is that in recent years, Brazil's votes are linked to the welfare system, and the pension standard is too high. In the past 10 years, the amount of pensions in Brazil has increased by nearly 90%, and the government expenditure is overwhelmed. The strength of trade unions is too strong, which greatly inhibits the enthusiasm of enterprise development.
The British "Economist" magazine pointed out that in countries with underdeveloped market economy and imperfect democracy and legal system, populism is more like an explosive, which either produces tyrants or causes riots.
▲ Some rooms in the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro have not even been renovated.
To China's surprise, Brazil didn't have the expected enthusiasm for China people. Especially in China's favorite volleyball match, China was booed from time to time. In fact, what many people don't understand is that there are many Japanese in Brazil. When Sino-Japanese relations are tense, it is impossible for these people to stand on the side of the China team.
According to historical records, Brazil negotiated with the Qing government at the end of 19, and planned to immigrate 1 10,000 people to Brazil to engage in agricultural production. However, the official of the Qing Empire replied: "China people are either thieves or traitors when they enter the sea." . Later, the official went to Japan, so 1895 signed the "Japan-Pakistan Trade Friendship Treaty", which was divided into three large-scale immigrants and more than 200,000 people went.
After nearly a century of reproduction and attaching importance to education, the Japanese have already changed from serfs to the middle class, and now the number has reached more than 6.5438+0.7 million. Some people entered the Brazilian cabinet, and many members were Japanese.
At the moment of public attention, Brazil lost face in front of the whole world. President Rousseff was suspended, and acting President Termel presided over the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. In the face of economic depression and the continuous deterioration of social security, after several years of tossing, Brazilians are tired of political corruption, partisan struggle and official cliché s, and anti-tradition and anti-elite have become the main colors of the 20 18 general election.
As some scholars have pointed out, although the Brazilian people don't understand what they are in favor of, they are very clear about what they are opposed to. They hope that new faces will appear in politics and bring new changes and new atmosphere to Brazil.
The election of 20 18 Bossonaro marks the end of the political era of Brazil's left wing and opens a new era of Brazil's right wing. Bossonaro is called "Trump of Brazil", not only because Bossonaro put forward the slogan "Brazil's interests are above everything else", but also made no secret of his worship of Trump in his personal social networking pages.
▲ Bolsonaro presented a jersey when Trump visited the United States.
Bolsonaro supports state intervention and control of some strategic enterprises, especially state-owned enterprises such as Petrobras and electric power companies. As a soldier, he put more emphasis on nationalism and even threatened to impose martial law when necessary. This statement not only did not arouse resentment, but won applause from many Brazilians.
Brazil is the weather vane of Latin American politics, once a banner of Latin American left-wing movement, and has long been at odds with the United States. All this is changing under Bossonaro's leadership. In 2065438+0816543810, National Security Assistant Bolton met with Bolsonaro, and they discussed trade and security cooperation. Bolton praised "Bolsonaro is a like-minded leader".
On trade issues, Bo Xilai, like Trump, holds an anti-globalization stance. On the Middle East issue, support Israel to move its capital to Yale and Salem. On the issue of climate change, environmentalists are considered to have hindered the development of Brazil's rainforests. There is a lot of discrimination against women on racial issues. 20 15, he once said to a female parliamentarian, "You are so ugly that you raped you", which caused public outcry.
Around the Amazon rainforest fire, he had a war of words with French President Macron. The host of the G-7 summit strongly advocated taking the Amazon fire as the topic of the summit, which aroused Bossonaro's disgust.
Just like a fire in the National Museum of Brazil last year, although most of the collections were destroyed, the American grandmother "Lucia" (skull fossil 1. 1 10,000 years ago) escaped. Does this warn Brazil to some extent not to forget where we come from and where we are going?
(Note: Transferred from "People Comment on the World" in WeChat official account. Zhou is the deputy editor-in-chief of Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao)