I have no clue whether Unocal should be sold to CNOOC, the 70%-government-owned Chinese petroleum company.  As a good globalist I don’t see many reasons the sale shouldn’t go through.  Remember a couple of decades ago when we sold all those golf courses and hotels to the Japanese?  And then bought many of them back at a steep discount later?

But what makes me insane is China’s presentation of the deal as "normal commercial activity" that should not become politicized.  I even heard a Chinese on the radio saying "if America is our friend they should let the deal go through."  Huhhh?!!

First of all, a 70%-government owned company cannot reasonably be called "normal commercial activity."  Neither is forcing a fixed exchange rate in order to dump cheap goods on the greedy American marketplace.  Neither is lax enforcement of intellectual property rights.  And so on…  [Update 30 June: Put another way, 70% of the decision of CNOOC is driven by the Chinese government, why shouldn't our government also have 70% of the say in the deal?]

Second, hate to break it to you China, but America is not your friend!  We put up with a lot on the theory that economic modernization leads to political reforms and is necessary to having a friendship sometime in the future, but so far the repression of human rights and tampering in the free market, and even the possibility that you’ve got thousands of spies operating within our borders, make our relationship strictly business.