The China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) is bidding about $18.5 billion to take over Unocal--an unsolicited offer that outbids Chevron's $16 billion offer.
CNN reports that the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution 398-15 opposing the bid, and several congressmen are demanding the Bush administration review the bid under the Defense Production Act. Said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) to Treasury Secretary Snow, "If you don't review this one, that law is meaningless. I don't think being a free trader is synonymous with being a sucker and a patsy." Meanwhile, the U.S. Trade Representative met with Chinese officials but pointedly did not discuss the offer (yeah, right!)
Now China has fired back, its Foreign Ministry stating, "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. 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."
Ah... but there is one crucial difference that China conveniently overlooked: CNOOC is state-owned. Essentially, Communist China is bidding to take control of more of the world's petroleum resources for itself. Is China following Lenin, who once said that, "the capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them"? Or is China just taking a page out of America's own books of coca-colonialism and economic imperialism? Well if it comes to pass, perhaps the new Unocal stations will at least offer tastier fare in their food marts...
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
With Six [Gallons] You Get Eggroll
Posted by Dr. Strangelove at 4:01 PM
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2 comments:
The Chinese government is probably just out to make a buck and they will use any rhetorical tool in their bag of tricks to justify it.
But it is odd that the Chinese government would accuse the U.S. of politicizing trade when their oil company is state owned.
It may be a little late for this case but a law that forbids the sale of U.S. companies to foreign state own enterprises would be consistent with a free trade approach while also respecting the security issues.
// posted by Raised By Republicans
Let's not get too hung up on the differences between, say Boeing, Airbus, and CNOOC. Although neither the US nor Boeing have formal property interests in one another, do you really think they are any less intwined than the other two? That's a comforting fiction of the right. Corporate control in the US is not that different from China formally "owning" enterprises that are actually run by those who run the Chinese government.
// posted by LTG
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