Last Thursday CNOC (China National Offshore Oil Company) made a rival bid for the American oil company UNOCAL. It's bid was $2b more than that of AMOCO. Stockholders will have to decide which bid to accept. But given the fact that a major world power is bidding to buy the oil assets of an American company at a time of rising oil prices it is a critical issue. What is at stake is the future energy security of America.

It is more than oil China will be buying. UNOCAL also owns mines from which critical minerals vital to the manufacture of advanced weapons are obtained. So called "rare earth minerals" currently come only from China. If China gained control over a domestic mine containing these minerals they would then have a monopoly which would cripple a key defense industry.

I have been reading a new book "China; The Gathering Threat" by the late Constantine Menges a former special assistant to the president for national security affairs. Dr. Menges' book is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the ultimate goals of the communist Chinese government when it comes to the its role in the world. His book reveals the open but unnoticed secret for the "Communist Chinese strategy of political and economic dominance. China intends to become the dominant global power without a major war. The strategy uses tactics that blend economic ties (including the careful cultivation of U.S., European, Russian, Japanese, and Taiwanese businessmen and entrepreneurs), diplomacy, covert action, military strength, and coercion." (page 11)

Frank Gaffney has this piece at National Review Online. His analysis shows the true intent of behind China's effort to buy UNOCAL. Here is the money paragraph:

In short, Communist China's play for Unocal is of a piece with a broader plan for securing dominant positions with respect to strategic energy resources, minerals, materials, technologies, choke points, and regions all over the planet (including, notably, our own hemisphere and Africa). The unifying purpose: China is positioning itself to supplant the United States economically and strategically and, if necessary, to defeat us militarily in the decades to come.

We have written on China in World News and Prophecy and will be doing more. China is not going away. It will be playing an increasingly significant role in Asian and world affairs. China considers itself the Middle Kingdom of Earth and the preeminent race to dominate and control world affairs. It will be a catalyst in events leading to the return of Christ.