> [too bad Henry Liu isn't around to tell us how this is another step
> in the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics]
> Financial Times - November 16, 1999
>
> Among the biggest beneficiaries of yesterday's deal will be foreign
> media and telecoms companies with plans to invest in China's booming
> telecoms, internet and e-commerce markets.
Actually, China has been very, very careful about protecting its indigenous telecom firms (in fact, the major telecom multis complain about this regularly in the Wall Street Journal). All these legal restrictions on ownership mean, in practice, very little, because there are a thousand and other ways of yanking Big Money's chain and keeping foreign investors in line, ranging from access to consumers to actually signing contracts. Sure, they'll set up joint ventures, but the Chinese CP is not going to allow Siemens, Alcatel and AT&T to bulldoze one of its leading industries.
-- Dennis