Neither China nor CNOOC are in this acquisition game for Unocal just for capitalist sport. On behalf of the government of China, CNOOC is acquiring energy reserves.
Contrary to the expectations of many pundits and policymakers in the United States, China is not "going Japanese" and using its surplus dollars to buy up expensive artwork or signature properties like Rockefeller Center or Pebble Beach Golf Course. It was one thing when the Japanese bought the fancy golf course or the architecturally significant landmark office building in New York. Those assets are still here in the United States and, at the end of the day, are still available for U.S. citizens to use.
But in this Unocal case, Chinese interests are attempting to buy a U.S. industrial legacy with oil and minerals in the ground in North America and overseas. There is a qualitative difference here, with long-term implications for U.S. national strategic interests.
--Byron W. King
The fruits of "free trade".
Most of Unocal's energy reserves are located in Asia, so the notion that the company is somehow an "American" corporation is a little shaky to begin with. In addition, the Supreme Court's recent decision in the Kelo case renders any of their U.S. assets potentially worthless anyway -- since these assets could be taken from them in exchange for a "fair market value" that CNOOC has no control over.
Once again, we have a foreign government telling us what to do, demanding and berating the U.S. just like another country we're all too familiar with. Is this our new stance in the world: punching bag?
Thanks for the ping!