Commies Drop Unocal Bid

The writing was on the wall, and the Chinese knew it, announcing this morning that they would drop their bid for Unocal. CNOOC's statement:

“[T]he unprecedented political opposition that followed the announcement of our proposed transaction was regrettable and unjustified. This is especially the case in light of CNOOC’s purely commercial objectives and the extensive commitments that CNOOC was prepared to make to address any legitimate concerns U.S. officials may have had regarding our acquisition. [The political environment created] a level of uncertainty that presents an unacceptable risk to our ability to secure this transaction.”

That statement -- coming as it does from a nation that supports the likes of Kim Il Jung and Robert Mugabe -- contains nothing that is believable, except the not that the U.S. had concerns that were legitimate.

Yes, China needs oil for purely commercial purposes, but it is also needs it for military purposes, as its Army and Navy are growing at an alarming rate. That means it needs more oil and more rare earth metal resources. How would we ever know whether Unocal's reserves were being used to build and fuel weapons arrayed against us? Good riddance.