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本帖最后由 heysheep 于 2009-9-2 02:24 编辑
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, d- f& l0 e3 W/ a$ {看来这次收购还会遇到不小的阻力,希望不要出现象上次husky一样的结局。
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9 `" C; g' G4 `* ~: aPetroChina bid should be blocked
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' q4 o' R9 S, ECalgary HeraldSeptember 2, 2009 2:02 AM
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M odest as PetroChina's $1.9-billion bid may be for a majority share of two Alberta oilsands projects, it represents the thin end of a very thick wedge. When a foreign government seeks ownership and control of a strategic asset, the deal is not just one more cross-border transaction: When Ottawa reviews it under the Canada Investment Act, it has no choice but to consider it in terms of national security.
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It is not a matter of whether to sell oil to China. Filling a tanker at the coast falls within the normal parameters of international trade: selling to all comers at the market price, maximizes the return.
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Rather, the question is how much of Canada's oilsands should be under the control not of a commercial enterprise driven by the same incentives as any other listed company, but by the government of a major foreign power with its own agenda -- the People's Republic of China.
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; W0 ^% K% t. i6 JNever mind the peripheral questions -- that taxpayer-funded proprietary technology may go with the deal, or the dreadful Chinese record on human rights, worker safety and the environment, or that beyond royalties, there is no guarantee of anything--jobs, or spinoff manufacturing.
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3 W; R: [7 {) x* a/ r! mCanadians should be deeply concerned about the relationship that would evolve, in which a foreign government increasingly makes important decisions about a premier Canadian industry and not necessarily with the free market in mind. For this is the start, not the extent of Chinese oilsands ambitions.( l; P# @3 U- N, W
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Given its massive demand for energy -- seven million barrels of oil a day, and rising --Beijing will certainly not be satisfied with plants having a daily yield of 40,000 barrels of bitumen. It may therefore be expected to pursue in Canada the same aggressive purchase of strategic assets for which it is infamous elsewhere in the world. We suspect Canadians with nothing to gain directly from this sale will agree: If Canada's closest ally cannot be trusted to own Canadian satellite operator MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, it is hard to build a case for opening the Canadian North to a totalitarian regime.
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4 t1 t$ ?2 _( m4 M0 R: x, n6 hTrue, some Canadians -- especially those who enjoy poking Uncle Sam in the eye --might be comfortable with a little Chinese toe dipping. There are days when we, too, find U. S. condemnation of so-called "dirty oil" a bit much to take, when dirty coal keeps the lights on in Washington.
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Meanwhile, Ottawa faces a dilemma. If it disallows this sale, it at least retains the option to approve another at some other time, should it then seem more propitious.( h/ V, J% n: ]+ u) V
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But if it approves a Chinese purchase of majority control in an oilsands plant now, it will be hard-pressed to find a principled objection to later purchases, even those that would raise Chinese ownership to levels sufficient to arouse the complacent.. z! W2 V$ O% z7 D
% l7 k6 E% i+ X2 FPrime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday his government would introduce no special legislation to deal with the situation.
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2 {, p) ^5 i% F# t% M7 wGood! As luck would have it, by keeping the Investment Canada Act vague about national security when it was amended in the last budget, Ottawa has given itself policy room to do what is best for Canada. This is not a trend we would like to see develop. Ottawa has the power to prevent it, and should use it. |
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