Nice try...Lao Che!
Posted on 10/08/2019 4:00:00 PM PDT by jazusamo
Under a long-term deal sealed by the Obama administration, a Chinese Communist company was set to control the second-busiest container port in the United States. In an unreported Trump administration victory, the Communists are out after a drawn-out national security review forced a unit of China-based COSCO Shipping Holdings Co. (Orient Overseas Container Line—OOCL) to sell the cherished container terminal business, which handles among the largest freight of imports into the U.S.
It all started with a 40-year container terminal lease between the Port of Long Beach in southern California and Hong Kong. The Obama administration proudly signed the agreement in 2012 giving China control of America’s second-largest container port behind the nearby Port of Los Angeles. One of the Trump administration’s first big moves was to get the Communists out of the Port of Long Beach. After a national security review and federal intervention, the Long Beach terminal business, which handles millions of containers annually, is finally being sold to an Australian company called Macquarie Infrastructure Partners. That essentially kills China’s decades-long contract with the Obama administration.
The deal never should have been signed in the first place considering the facility’s size, significance and the national security issues associated with a hostile foreign government controlling it. The southern California port is the premier U.S. gateway for trans-Pacific trade, according to its website, and handles trade valued at more than $194 billion annually. It is one of the few ports that can accommodate the world’s largest vessels and serves 140 shipping lines with connections to 217 seaports around the world. The facility encompasses 3,200 acres with 31 miles of waterfront, 10 piers, 62 berths and 68 post-Panamax gantry cranes. In 2018, the Long Beach port handled more than 8 million container units, achieving the busiest year in its history.
Removing Chinese Communists from this essential port is a tremendous feat and a huge victory for U.S. national security. You’d never know it because the media, consumed with the impeachment debacle, has ignored this important achievement. The only coverage of the finalized transfer is found in Long Beach’s local newspaper, which published a brief article omitting important background information on the Trump administration’s work to take back the terminal from the Communists. The story makes it seem like a regular business transaction in which “a Chinese state-owned company, reached a deal to sell the terminal, one of the busiest in the port, for $1.78 billion.” The piece also quotes the Port of Long Beach’s deputy executive director saying that the transaction process was intricate and involved one of “our most valuable port assets.” Buried at the bottom of the article is a sentence mentioning that the U.S. government, which regulates mergers for antitrust and security reasons, stepped in and required COSCO to sell its rights to the container terminal.
In the last few years China has bought cargo ports throughout the world, including in Latin America, the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Chinese-owned ports are located in Greece, Italy, Spain and other European locations. In sub-Saharan Africa there are dozens of existing or planned port projects funded or operated by China, according to a study that highlights the threat the Chinese investments present to U.S. influence in the region. One troubling analysis points out that “COSCO’s commercial expansion has created leverage for Beijing — leverage that has already resulted in countries that host COSCO ports adopting China’s position on key international issues.”
I’m still not tired of WINNING!
Oh, hurray! This hits home for me, as I live in the South Bay region of Los Angeles.
Nice try...Lao Che!
Me neither.
the Communist Chinese takeovers of so many ports (and canals, etc) all over the world are very very worrisome. It is not necessary for trade/commercial purposes.
Amen!
Another 0bama fiasco eliminated by President Trump.
-PJ
This means the Commies are going to want their money back, Hillary.
Excellent!
I remember how hard the Mayor of Long Beach and the Politicians did their best to sell Long Beach to the COmmunists, poor babies
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The West has a history of playing chess. China plays the game of Go, which revolves around gaining control of territory.
Well played, sir.
How did they know?
Quite the LARP, eh?
holy cow! I actually had no clue of this situation. Fantastic!
Jimmy Carter gave up the Panama Canal, which WE built. Guess who runs it now? yeah, the CHICOMS.
Donald the strong or some such.
A good WIN in any case.
And next week the USA quits the International Postal Union...October 17th....forcing the Chicoms to pay regular mail rates...will put a crimp on junk products from China and fetanyl sales.
This is great news! I remember when Clinton let that happen back in the 90s. Now we need to take back the Panama canal which was given away by another commie,Carter.
I was against that back in the Clinton years. I don’t think we can pin it all on Obama, although he could have followed up with more onerous decisions on it.
Bush didn’t seem to mind the situation.
I mean, leaving Communist Chinese in control of a certain portion of a major port, what could go wrong?
This was a Naval facility that was decommissioned and turned over to the Chinese. It was a portion at the mouth of the port.
I don’t want them running any of our ports, and on the record, I’m not a real big fan of them being able to ship containers right onto U. S. soil with or without an inspection.
There’s plenty of time to replace materials with contraband before port entry.
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