Mainland China's state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp.

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

The Gaza narrative

In the Middle East, narrative can be destiny. The Palestinian
narrative speaks of victimhood, of oppression at the hands of the
Israeli occupier. The Israeli narrative is one of stirring
triumph against all odds, of unlikely victory against sworn
enemies on all sides.

That is part of the struggle now as Israel prepares to
evacuate some 8,500 settlers from the Gaza Strip, a tiny, densely
populated patch of land on the Mediterranean Sea between Israel
and Egypt.

The history of the Gaza withdrawal is about to be written. It
could be a crucial chapter in a different kind of Middle East
narrative, one of hope, not of violence and terror. Or it could
be the same old story--one that does not hold a happy ending for
either side.
-- Chicago Tribune

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The mayor of Hiroshima, Tadatoshi Akiba, has warned that the
world is "on the brink" of rapid nuclear proliferation, and all
the evidence points that way.

It may be that the majority of people are resigned to the idea
that once Pandora's box had been opened, the evils that it
unleashed could not be returned.

Yet, in the Greek legend, the gods also included in the box,
as an act of mercy, the spirit of hope. And it is the hope of the
people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that is among the most
remarkable and unexpected legacies of the bomb. They do not seek
vengeance or to gain the same terrible power for themselves.

Despite Japan's undoubted ability to do so, its people would
not permit this. They remain overwhelmingly committed to the goal
of a nuclear-free peace and believe this is possible. The
countdown to catastrophe that started 60 years ago is continuing,
but it is not too late to halt it.
-- The Age, Melbourne