"I believe (China's) aim is inexorably to supplant the United States as the world's premier economic power and, if necessary, to defeat us militarily," Frank Gaffney, a Pentagon strategist under the late President Ronald Reagan, told the hearing."
washingtonpost.com
I don't know about you, but all this strikes me as unbelievably hypocritical. It seems it is America's God given right to the world's oil, no matter where it exists, even in Asia, and for China to have the gall to buy these assets at the going price plus, is just not acceptable!
I don't place much distinction between private enterprise and government owned businesses. They both seem to serve identical masters anyway. For example, the US government favours Cheney's old Company, who has secured Iraqi contracts without requiring opposing bids, so what really is the difference? The government takes care of Halliburton, and Halliburton takes care of the government. One hand washes the other as they say. The only one that gets hurt is Joe six pack, and he doesn't count.
Back to China. If those assets were all located in China, the US would still oppose the takeover. After all, that is what makes them so uncomfortable with Putin, who has the nerve to want to preserve their limited and dwindling natural resources and profits for themselves. That must be wrong because the capitalists should own the world. Capital is the property of capitalists, and to be a capitalist is to be American. And if there is one thing Americans excel at is to have the ability to produce capital out of thin air. |
