Building anti-Chinese sentiment in Washington -- the key reason cited by Chinese National Offshore Oil Co (CNOOC,
Government-controlled CNOOC on Tuesday dropped its bid for Unocal Corp citing a political uproar in Washington as the main obstacle for the deal. That cleared the way for Chevron Corp, the second-largest US oil company, to complete its acquisition of Unocal next week, although its offer was worth US$700 million less.
CNOOC's defeat followed a decision by appliance maker Haier Group Ltd (
"Anyone can see that CNOOC bid failed because of political obstacles, not business factors. CNOOC's lack of success marked the first serious failure of the Chinese government's policy of encouraging its enterprises to go out into the world. It's also a bitter experience for China's attempt to expand its supply of energy resources," said the Hong Kong Economic Journal.
CNOOC's defeat came amid an unprecedented upswell of opposition in Washington toward China that might deter future takeover attempts and could even complicate broader relations.
"I hope they're not discouraged from thinking about investing in the US in the future," said Robert Kapp, former president of the Washington-based US-China Business Council. "Whether this has a polluting effect on long-term relations remains to be seen but I don't discount that possibility."
China did not immediately issue any public comment. Its Foreign Ministry issued a statement on its Web site yesterday saying that Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (李肇星) had exchanged opinions on bilateral relations in a phone call to US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. It gave no details.
The official Xinhua News Agency noted that the timing for a deal was bad, given the recent surge in crude oil prices and mounting US worries over future energy security.
But it commented, "What confuses energy experts both at home and abroad is that what should have been a simple win-win scenario was without reason politicized by the US government."
Ultimately, CNOOC's offer succumbed to an upsurge in antagonism in Washington, despite ever-closer economic ties with China, Kapp said.
"Clearly for the last seven months Congress has been very, very inflamed, almost allergic [to China.] For the most part it's been all China threat, all the time," Kapp said.
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS