One of the first things foreign countries have to learn about the United States is that what Congressmen and Senators say is not the policy of the federal government, and that in such debates, there is a lot of local politics involved for their constituencies. Our system allows these folks to spout off, and much of it, is for the purpose of achieving the result the Chinese wanted, i.e., approval of PNTR.
I frankly think that the investment banking houses that have cdma connections should ask some very tough questions in the roadshow. I thought, as part of the license, China Unicom agreed to start building THIS YEAR a cdma system that could handle 10 mill. subs. If they are going to renege, then I don't think American investors should invest money because they can't depend on China Unicom to honor its commitments and the IPO could therefore be considered stealing money from them. GSM allied investment houses have played the game of FUD for years. I think it entirely appropriate that cdma allied investment houses should use the opportunity to protect turf, since it is entirely appropriate for the protection of the potential American investors. If they want our money, they darn well better honor the deal, and it needs to be made clear that the IPO will run into trouble if Unicom doesn't honor its prior commitments. If they try weasle tactics, then the investment community should stop being whores and should make it very clear that any American who invests is taking a risk that neither China Unicom nor the Chinese government can be trusted and that they may be throwing their money away. It's time to play hardball, because once the stock is bought there is no way to get Unicom or the government to honor the deal. |
