I have no doubt that HWI management listens to Beijing. But to jump from that to the claim that HWI is a commercial front for the Chinese military, and that HWI operations in any strategically sensitive area are a security threat to the US, is in my view a bit over the top. Do you really think that if war broke out in Asia, Beijing could order HWI to order their civilian staff in Panama to close the canal? Do you think their civilian staff in Panama could or would do this, in light of the obvious and probably immediate repercussions?
It should perhaps be noted that some US companies, for example Bechtel, do have well established track records of allowing their facilities to be used as CIA cover. If we start pushing around HK companies on such flimsy grounds, we must expect other countries to take similar reciprocal action.
It would be wise for the US to base its policy on capabilities and not intentions.
True. And when I look at the relative military, particularly naval and air, capabilities of the US and China, I have to conclude that this kind of paranoia is ill-founded to the point of absurdity. |
