Watch China's burgeoning assertiveness and newfound confidence in geopolitical economics.
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 Corp. by China's CNOOC Ltd.Four days after the House of Representatives 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 of the outcome.
This is what happens when we let them -- nay, ask them to -- buy billions of dollars of our debt and rack up massive trade deficits. China wants to invest in American-owned oil; we want to send them McDonalds and buy t-shirts. Note also their savvy media strategy to wait four days and release the salvo after our long holiday weekend. Which side is more clever?
Posted by Alan at July 5, 2005 06:16 AM