Word: ironical
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...mistake: Beijing has not decided staying home is better than "Going Out." State companies are still sitting on mountains of cash, and although China's economy is slowing, officials see the global recession as a prime opportunity to cheaply acquire holdings of strategically important natural resources such as iron ore, copper, oil and gas - commodities China's leadership knows it will need much more of in the long run. In the past month, Chinese companies have bought assets abroad at an unprecedented pace. Aluminum Corp. of China (Chinalco), a major holding company focused on resources, has announced plans to invest...
...deals are not without controversy, particularly in Australia, where some are worried that control of vital resources is being handed over to the Chinese. Chinalco is a huge consumer of iron ore, and mining companies fear that the investment in Rio Tinto could give China more influence over the price of iron in global commodities markets. Every year, steel and aluminum producers worldwide dicker with the big raw-material producers over new contracts. During the boom years, when Chinese companies' appetite for virtually every metal was voracious, they got stuck with stiff price increases. But the deal could give Chinalco...
...Considering how far mineral prices have fallen, some analysts believe Chinalco might actually be paying a premium for Rio Tinto assets. But BOC International's Xu says "the price is much, much lower for the assets - particularly iron ore and copper - than it would have been just six months ago. This seems like a pretty good deal." As long as commodity prices are depressed, Chinese companies - having learned the pitfalls of "Going Out" - are likely to be ravenous buyers...
...Denied The European Union dismissed a Hungarian-led request from nine hard-hit East European countries for a $240 billion economic bailout, saying that blanket spending would be ill-advised owing to each nation's unique financial outlook. Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany insisted that without funds, a 'new Iron Curtain' would divide Europe...
...keen sense of irony. The sentiment was on show even as the old system of central control began to unravel and democracy and capitalism rushed in. The summer and fall of 1989 were full of passionate protestors and revolutionary honesty. But the millions of people who ripped open the Iron Curtain generally did so with an eyebrow cocked at what was replacing their decayed regimes. In the street markets of Warsaw and Prague in those early years of freedom, the symbols of communism - badges, pins, posters - were sold off, their proceeds helping folk survive in the wild and freewheeling free...