The Rio Tinto-Chinalco deal is the most important, and potentially dangerous, commercial venture the Australian Government has ever had to decide on.
While the Government considers the deal, the Senate is currently holding an inquiry into investment in Australia by foreign government-owned sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and foreign-government-owned companies.
Recently, veteran financial commentator Robert Gottliebsen has written three incisive articles on the issue in Australia's online business news outlet Business Spectator. Although News Weekly disagrees with his strategic conclusions, Gottliebsen nevertheless makes several important points. He says:
"As a nation [Australia] seems likely to play a role to assist China and the US reconcile their differences. At the same time, China has superior air, sea and land defence capability to Australia and in a decade or two may emerge as our 'protector' because they need to safeguard their raw material supply lines and because the US appears to be in decline.
"Australians will not find it easy to see China taking the role that Britain and the US took, but within two decades it is a distinct possibility. Accordingly, a deal between Rio Tinto and Chinalco could be in Australia's long term interests ...".
To propose that China become this nation's new protector, and that Australia should resign itself to being financially dependent on Beijing, would be to surrender Australia's independence to the world's last major Communist dictatorship, which has scant regard for universal human rights, democracy, private property or personal freedom. Read more.