Globalization Good or Bad?

Alibaba Group Holding executives shook hands with top Belgian leaders a year ago on a deal to make the eastern city of Liege the first European hub for the company's Electronic World Trade Platform. The e-commerce company promised to invest more than $80 million and hire hundreds of workers to operate a logistics center. Now Watching Alibaba, a coalition of environmental and anti-globalization groups including Extinction Rebellion and the local branch of Greenpeace, have joined forces to try to halt the plan. "Would it be a good idea to increase the number of flights given today's climate situation?" a member of the group rhetorically asked dozens of gathered protesters in downtown Liege on Jan. 17. "No!" they responded. "Do you want more trucks and highway pollution? No! Do you want noise at night? No!" In addition to generating excessive road and air traffic and contributing to climate change, Watching Alibaba argues that Alibaba's hub would create just low-quality jobs. While its next protest is planned for March 7, Liege city councilman Francois Schreuer and other members are campaigning to stop the regional government of Wallonia from issuing the building permit Alibaba aims to get by midyear. So far, the Belgian political establishment remains committed to the project. The cross-party coalition government of Wallonia, which does not include Schreuer's Vega, endorsed the Liege hub at its formation in September. "This will be a huge opportunity to boost exports and bring wide-reaching economic benefits to society, including employment opportunities to Liege," said Charles Michel, then Belgium's prime minister and now president of the European Council, in December 2018. "This is an opportunity for not just the small businesses and young people in Belgium but across Europe." After an extended three-week shutdown for the Lunar New Year holidays due to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, Alibaba's logistics arm, has resumed its three chartered cargo flights a week between Liege and the company's headquarters in Hangzhou. A new freight train service chartered by Cainiao began running weekly between Yiwu, a city near Hangzhou, and Liege in October. Thanks to the boost from Cainiao, while overall European airfreight traffic declined 1.9% last year, Liege's cargo volume rose 3.6%. "They (Alibaba) have from the start worked very well together with us and the local authorities," said Steven Verhasselt, commercial vice president of the airport. Part of the attraction is that Liege is one of only a few European airports with flights and customs clearance possible around the clock.