Fortunately, .06% of America's oil supply is now safe from communism's evil grasp, and America has again proven that it is still and always will be the best country in the universe. That's right, America has successfully convinced CNOOC to drop its bid for Unocal -- the company realized that due to American political opposition, CNOOC had a better chance of getting Taiwan to reunite with the Mainland than successfully purchase an American company. 
 
Shanghaiist tried really really hard to bite our tongue after reading an AFP story first thing this morning -- headline "US lawmaker tells China to learn from CNOOC row" -- that contained astonishing quotes such as this one from the fast expanding Chuck Schumer:

"For instance, China likely wouldn't allow an American company to buy a similarly situated Chinese company," Schumer said. "If China were to open up to American companies buying Chinese companies, I think CNOOC would have had a much easier time of it."

"But the furor over China treating American companies and workers unfairly up and down the line is real. And while it led to an incorrect result in this case, it must be dealt with," the New York Democrat said in a statement.

Obviously, Senator Schumer did not read Shanghaiist's post where we pointed out that it's the American companies that are the ones screwing over American workers by moving to China and taking advantage of the country's cheap labor. The senator also appears to forget (or not know) about those chunks of state-owned Chinese banks being sold off to American investors. 
 
But Shanghaiist's tongue was getting pretty sore when we spotted this lovely quote from one Patrick Mulloy, a member of the U.S-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a bipartisan advisory panel created by Congress, in a New York Times story that arrived in our inbox near the end of the workday:

"This is good news," Mr. Mulloy said of Cnooc's decision. "Don't call this a commercial transaction when it's not a commercial transaction. This is a government-controlled company. There was no ability for an American company to buy Cnooc; there was no reciprocity."

Fortunately, the New York Times wraps up the commentary with a scholarly reality check from Philip Swagel, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a former chief of staff on President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers:

Mr. Swagel pointed out that two American banks were interested in buying stakes in state-owned banks in China. While those bids have been encouraged by Beijing, it is doubtful that Washington would be so inviting of similar deals, particularly if they involved changes in control. "Imagine if a Chinese company tried to take over Citigroup," Mr. Swagel said. "It would go to Defcon 5 here."

Also in Shanghaiist:
America, know thy competitor
Just who is being 'hostile' here?