2005年NPR美国国家公共电台九月-China Invests in Canadian Energy Sector

…in a few minutes, getting back to business in New Orleans, but first to international business. A Chinese bid to buy the US oil company Unocal earlier this year caused quite a stir. Some people questioned the wisdom of letting foreigners control an American oil company. But in Canada, which is the largest supplier of crude oil to the United States, the Chinese have recently been snapping up oil companies. Richard Reynolds reports from Toronto.

Several media pundits¹ here have dubbed² this--the Year of the Chinese Takeover. Canadians really began to notice in June when the Chinese Government-owned company Minmetals made a bid for Noranda, one of Canada's largest mining companies. This came on the heels of a 2-billion-dollar investment by the Chinese National Overseas Oil Company or CNOOC into Canada's oil sands. Andrew Willis is one of Canada's leading business journalists. He writes for the Global Mail newspaper.

There you had the premier³ Canadian mining company but suddenly / was goning to pass into Chinese control and I think the startling thing for all of us who date back to an era when Canada was vehemently⁴ protectionist was the fact first of all the public didn't seem to mind at all. The secondly⁵ the government was willing, quite willing to, uh, let that deal go through with absolutely no problem.

The deal later fell apart over the question of price. Attention was focused even more in June when the Chinese signed a memorandum⁶ of understanding to take half the capacity of a new pipeline⁷ being built from the oil fields of Alberta to the Pacific Coast and again when CNOOC took over oil firm Petrol Kazakhstan for 3.75 billion dollars in late August. The Noranda bid did generate some protest but the more recent deals went through with hardly any. Andrew Willis.

There is a sense of trying to connect China’s record on human rights and you know, China’s behavior in Tibet for example with the Noranda purchase. And it was a difficult argument to make right from the start. So after a day or two of strife⁸ and blasting and trying to connect, what really is seen by most Canadians as unconnected issues, the issue faded away.

This is in sharp contrast to the US response over the proposed takeover of Unocal. US law makers⁹ including Republican congressman¹⁰ Richard Pombo of California backed a measure that delays any Chinese acquisition of a US oil company for at least 120 days. The measure was included in the energy bill, which was signed into law last month. In the end, CNOOC abandoned its takeover. In contrast, the Canadian government has thrown the doors wide open to investment from China. This past January, Prime Minister Paul Martin even signed a statement of cooperation with the Chinese that dealt with investment in the oil and resource sectors¹¹. Industry Minister, David Anderson.

The government of Canada has taken the position that we do want an increase in the international investment into Canada and China is certainly one of the countries that we hope to see an intensification¹² of our economic relationship with.

But energy and resources are central to the Chinese overseas investment strategy. Walid Hejazi is a professor at Toronto's Rotman School of Business and an expert on China. He explains that China has over 800 billion dollars in foreign currency reserves and its economy is growing so fast, it has an almost unquenchable thirst for raw materials.

So it's a very forward-looking strategy on the part of the Chinese to take this 800 billion dollars and growing reserve of US money to deploy¹³ those resources as strategically as possible in order to ensure the growth of their industry in a smooth possible way.

Canada is one of the world's larger oil producers but it's also rich in coal, iron, copper¹⁴, nickel, zinc¹⁵, uranium and lumber¹⁶, all material the Chinese need. And as Loren Brandt, an economist¹⁷ of the University of Toronto explains, Canada is also safe.

The Chinese are looking all over for resources, they are looking in Africa, they are looking in Latin America, they are looking in South America, Australia, Canada. They are looking in Russia. And so, you know, some of those, those countries I have just mentioned are potentially risky¹⁸, very risky.

If Canada is a target for the Chinese, should the US be concerned? Canada is a natural resources storehouse for the US economy. Walid Hejazi believes, as do many Canadian experts , that the US just takes Canadian oil and resources for granted, often forgetting that Canada is the largest and the most stable provider of oil to the US.

For many, many years, the Americans just believe that all of this energy is available in Canada, we can get access to all of this energy, and now you have the Chinese trying to get access to not just energy in Asia, or in the Middle East, but also in Canada, and I think that's a real threat to the Americans.

Hejazi also believes this is just the beginning. He expects a huge surge of investment overseas by the Chinese in the next few years. Media reports indicate the Chinese may be planning a bid for Husky Oil, one of Canada's largest oil companies and already owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Kashing.

For NPR news, I'm Richard Reynolds in Toronto.

1 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

2 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

4 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

5 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

6 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

7 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

8 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

9 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

11 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 intensification   

n.激烈化，增强明暗度；加厚

参考例句：

• The intensification of the immunological response represents the body's natural defense. 增强免疫反应代表身体的自然保卫。 来自辞典例句
• Agriculture in the developing nations is not irreversibly committed, to a particular pattern of intensification. 发展中国家的农业并没有完全为某种集约化形式所束缚。 来自辞典例句

13 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

14 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

15 zinc   

n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。

16 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

17 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

18 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。