where's me country?

China Steams Ahead

6.23.2005

The moves to purchase Unocal, a us mutinaitonal oil corporation by CNOOC, a chinese business for over $18 billionis the beginning of a process that was recently flagged somewhere i dont recall.
The main thrust of this idea is that china is only bereft of one modern element to become a global power which rivals the US, that element is Brands. The purchase byLenovo computers earlier this year of IBM personal computer business shows that china is ready to begin taking on board larrge corporations which it feels will give it identity abroad. No longer will it be a halting site for goreign business but a hive of local corporate activity which peremates the activity of the broader world around them.
I think we are all sick of hearing the chinese are coming to get us etc etc. But the fact of the matter is that coming they are and doing so in a prodigious manner and feeling no responsibility to give ground to democracy or even human rights. The chinese miracle will put paiid to tow fundamental beliefs,
a) Free-market evangelism brings about democracy naturally by promoting some sort of natural evolution of man. Rubbish such a correlation is merely coincidental.
b) The US is powerufl enough to withstand any challenge to its supremacy. Again this is nonsense, it is the most indebted country in the world, mostly to China. The fact is that shold any major holder of US treasuries decide to sell or change to Euro the staes whole global dominnce collapses. Unlike the Brits before them and now the chinese, the US doesnt send out good and capital around the world it actually takes it in. Thus it is overdrawn and actually in a pretty unhelthy state.
It is against this background that China is buying an oil company. Soaring demand in both the US and china could make this a Stand off to rememeber and even draw up the battle lines for future resource wars of trade or military. ITs not unlikely and indeed probably going to happen.
The changes we see before us are the prescott-esque tectonic plates shifting.
RR

This entry was posted on 6.23.2005 at 6/23/2005 05:36:00 p.m.. There are . If you want, you can leave your own response by clicking here. You may also send this post to a friend of yours via email, or bookmark it for yourself by using icons below;