You Sorta Have To See It Yourself

I quite like this article on China by Tom Grimmer, it's a decent summary and a better tone than is common in US press coverage.

My only issue is with his characterization of the China Investment Corporation, the government owned strategic investment fund, as, "This is a passive equity investor just looking for a place to park cash; it's not Dr. Evil. (So far, CIC has taken a bath on the likes of Morgan Stanley and Blackstone stock; they are not seers.)"

Well, sort of. It's a government directed investment company that strategically selects targets...er, companies...based on their ability to provide useful things to China. That's why people are so touchy about it acquiring significant holdings in computer companies or airlines, industries with strategic military applications. In fact, it's hard to think of any commodity that a state government could invest in using the amounts of capital China has available that wouldn't tend to raise questions about alternative agendas.

Still, on the whole, a good read.