CNOOC beats a retreat

CNOOC beats a retreat

Mainland China's state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp.
(CNOOC) threw in the towel this week in its bidding war with
Chevron for Unocal, the ninth largest American oil company.

It's not because Chevron was the higher bidder. In fact,
CNOOC's US$18.5 billion offer for Unocal was much higher. The
reason for CNOOC's withdrawal was purely political, as
Congressional China-bashers have invoked "national security" to
block the commercial deal.

The irony in the high-profile acquisition drama is the Beijing
looked more capitalistic than Washington, which refused to play
by the rules of capitalism.

Where is America's market economy? Where is the principle of
free trade? Nowhere. It is politics uber alles.

The debacle of CNOOC, however, may not thwart its plan to
acquire oil resources in other parts of the world, and that may
prove a greater "threat" to America's security. Remember Chinese
president Hu Jintao's visits to Russia, Africa and Latin America?
See how close Beijing is getting to Tehran? Among other things,
Hu had oil in mind.

Suffering a staggering blow beneath the belt, Beijing may not
turn the other cheek. The smile on Capitol Hill is no cause for
joy.
-- The China Post, Taipei