Posted on 07/04/2005 6:01:48 PM PDT by crushelits
SHANGHAI, July 4 -- The Chinese government on Monday sharply criticized the United States for threatening to erect barriers aimed at preventing the attempted takeover of the American oil company Unocal by one of China's three largest energy firms, CNOOC Ltd.
Four days after the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging the Bush administration to block the proposed transaction as a threat to national security, China's Foreign Ministry excoriated Congress for injecting politics into what it characterized as a standard business matter.
"We demand that the U.S. Congress correct its mistaken ways of politicizing economic and trade issues and stop interfering in the normal commercial exchanges between enterprises of the two countries," the foreign ministry said in a written statement. "CNOOC's bid to take over the U.S. Unocal company is a normal commercial activity between enterprises and should not fall victim to political interference. The development of economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States conforms to the interests of both sides."
Those words, the latest rhetorical volley in an escalating trade battle, officially elevated the takeover battle for Unocal into a bilateral issue involving Washington and Beijing, raising the stakes hinging on the outcome.
CNOOC's bid comes as China's emerging force in the global economy continues to sow international tensions over competition for natural resources, impacts to the environment, trade balances and security relationships. The deal would be the latest in a string of Chinese purchases of foreign companies as Beijing encourages domestic firms to seek new markets abroad and secure raw materials for China's aggressive industrialization. The Chinese government has urged energy companies in particular to buy foreign oil fields as China's consumption soars, deepening worries about the country's access to supplies.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Bump the price up a bit, and we'll reconsider.
Piss on China.
I guess national security doesn't matter? How the hell can we even think for a moment that this is a good idea?
I heard that Chevron is actually the winning bidder, even though the Chinese company offered more. Hopefully this is true and hopefully, Bush realizes what a huge threat the Chinese are and won't let them get Unocal.
The Solution: Keep Communists Out of American Boardrooms! (Forbes)
...America's policymakers have long encouraged China to privatize its state-owned and state-controlled companies. To allow these entities to gain control of U.S. private companies while still in state hands sends the wrong message.
Also, allowing a foreign government to gain control of U.S. companies is clearly not in our national interest and is contrary to America's free enterprise tradition.
Lastly, state-controlled companies can easily access concessionary funding from their government and the transparency regarding the origins of capital flows is poor and can be easily manipulated...
Link to full article:
http://www.forbes.com/investmentnewsletters/2005/06/28/cnooc-unocal-maytag-cx_cd_0628soapbox_inl.html?partner=rss
See post #6
this clearly pushes the limits of "double standard."
F*ck them.
Why on earth would we let China take over UNOCAL when they show brazen hostility towards the USA. Take this joint declaration for example (talk about Cold War language!);
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1436001/posts
China is already number 2 in foreign nations' holdings of our debt. China buys U.S. Treasury securities like they're going out of style, holding $119.4 billion of them at the end of April.
China's holdings were second only to those of Japan ($389.2 billion). In addition, Hong Kong held $52.5 billion in U.S. Treasuries. Not too long ago, Japan was our arch enemy and China was our ally against the Japanese.
Asian central banks alone own more than 20 percent of the U.S. Treasury market, some $936 billion as of early June.
China is already number 2 in foreign nations' holdings of our debt. China buys U.S. Treasury securities like they're going out of style, holding $119.4 billion of them at the end of April.
China's holdings were second only to those of Japan ($389.2 billion). In addition, Hong Kong held $52.5 billion in U.S. Treasuries. Not too long ago, Japan was our arch enemy and China was our ally against the Japanese.
Asian central banks alone own more than 20 percent of the U.S. Treasury market, some $936 billion as of early June.
What's that phrase??? When you owe someone a little money you are a debtor. When you owe someone a lot of money you become a partner. Is this what you are getting at? If so, we agree. Unfortunately, things get pretty sticky when your new partner also happens to be you biggest strategic enemy.
When China can squeeze Taiwan out of world trade it can control that nation economically and then politically. And when China can use the threat of a nuclear North Korea to launch a war at the time most favorable to both nations (i.e., when China invades Taiwan, if the US tries to aid Taiwan), it can freely launch its new Anschluss with little fear of effective opposition from Taiwan, the US or a cowed Japan.
Get a good price for it. It's just oil. If you sell 18 billion dollars worth of oil for more than 18 billion dollars, then you can use the money to buy even more oil than you had in the first place.
irredentism , originally, the Italian nationalist movement for the annexation to Italy of territories Italia irredenta [unredeemed Italy]inhabited by an Italian majority but retained by Austria after 1866. These included the Trentino, Trieste, Istria, Fiume, and parts of Dalmatia. Agitation took place both inside Austria-Hungary and in Italy itself. The liberation of Italia irredenta was perhaps the strongest motive for the entry of Italy into World War I. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) satisfied most of the irredentist claims.
The term irredentism has, by extension, been applied to nationalist agitation in other countries, based on historical, ethnic, and geographical reasons, for the incorporation of territories under foreign rule. Irredentism is thus closely connected with nationalism and with minority problems.
It's been pointed out to you several times already it's more than just oil.
Yeah, and we demand you stop forced low paying communistic labor. You cheat....we cheat. Get over it China.
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