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