Mendy Niu
      Richmond Green Secondary School
      It's easy to stand behind a cause and preach onto others the values and ideology that modern society has taught us. However， it's different when you go outside of your comfort zone and dig deeper into the reasons behind why so many atrocities occur in the world. As a final assessment project for our Grade 12 Economics course， I questioned the global economic system about why there are so many child workers in some areas， and got some interesting answers.
      The Chinese yuan (CNY) has always been worth very little in the world market， and the Chinese have worked that to their advantage. Being a Chinese-born Canadian myself， I admit to flying home to China with hopes of stockpiling on lowly-priced clothes， accessories， gadgets and other wants. As I write this， one yuan is worth about $0.15 American. What does this difference mean? It means that labour is cheaper， even excluding the use of child labour. This is why many transnational corporations， for instance， various athletic shoe companies have moved their main productions overseas. This pattern is referred to “outsourcing”， moving a non-core part of a company outside of the country their headquarters is at. Surprise， surprise， North America as a result， are losing many factory jobs to foreign competitors. These competitors are winning out right now， due to aspects like cheap labour, such as child labour， in addition to the lack of workers' unions， and lower minimum wages in China and other Asian countries.
      I can't honestly propose boycotting or any form of small consumer movement as viable solutions to child labour and exploitive business practices in Asia. Any actions taken by a small group of individuals just aren't going to cut it when we're talking about multiple organizations with combined net worths of billions， possibly trillions， of dollars. Money talks in our current society， so North American businesses need to talk back. I don't doubt most of them feel safe outsourcing to Asia right now， and are making a pretty penny off hiring underage Asian workers. But a business move like that is not without consequences. We are now directly contributing to the cheap Chinese yuan， as mentioned above. What is good for transnational organizations now， will not last them very long into the future， guaranteed.The utilitarian strategy used by Western business will have a negative effect on the global market, and lead to severe consequences.
      Their usage of foreign workers and neglecting American ones will come back to haunt them. The number one rule in economics is don't piss off the superpowers of the world. And right now，it's the United States of America. President Obama has stated his position on the outsourcing that's going on with the American corporations; he doesn't like it one bit. He's travelled to India to beg for jobs back， and he's declared it's America's goal to make the Chinese yuan rise in value. But above all， he's sending a threatening message to American transnational organizations： don't slap the hand that feeds you. Obama's method is something that will scare the unethical businesses; losing the huge American market is a possibility if they continue to screw over the unemployed of the USA. This imminent threat will eventually force the transnational companies to come back to North America， where it's difficult to exploit and take advantage of workers， especially child workers. The question is： how long until American and Canadian corporations crumble under the pressure?

      常言道：坐說話不腰疼。走出自己的安樂窩，你將面對的是一個凶險的世界。作為高三學生，當經濟學課程進入尾聲時，全球經濟活動中一些地區的童工現象引起我的關注。
      中國一直從人民幣的低匯率中獲益，我作為出生在中國的加拿大人，每次回到中國，總是希望得到便宜的衣服、鞋帽或其他小玩意。當一元人民幣換一毛五分美元的時候，這意味什麼？意味廉价，更不用提童工的存在，這就是為什麼許多傳統的企業將他們的工厂生產轉移到海外。這种模式稱為“海外加工”，結果是由于一些制造業利用了中國和亞洲其他國家大量的廉价勞動力，甚至是童工，加上工會的缺乏，令到北美流失了大量的制造職位，而他們的海外競爭對手則獲利非淺。
      社會上有各种運動來抵制有亞洲童工生產的消費品，老實說我個人對此不感興趣，因為在全球經濟的大潮中，個人的力量是多麼的微不足道。金錢不是万能的，但對北美的企業來說沒錢是万万不能的。所以轉厂去亞洲，降低生產成本，對企業是安全的做法。但利用人民幣的低匯率及亞洲廉价勞力，西方資本家這种急功近利的作法，對整個世界市場的傷害，后果相當不堪。
      利用外國的廉价勞工而忽略本土的資源，到頭來只能是搬起石頭砸自己的腳，美國總統奧巴馬表示他不再袖手旁觀了。他跑到印度去乞求工作，逼中國人民幣升值，并且威脅美國的大企業放棄那种吃里扒外的做法。我們并不認同血淚工厂及非法童工，而且這些企業也怕失去美國市場，問題是：這需要多長時間？

      （作者為Richmond Green Secondary School第12班的學生）