Word: petrochina
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...case of PetroChina is one where moral concerns clearly override the University’s legitimate desire to avoid having its investment decisions held hostage to a potential slew of causes. PetroChina’s parent company, China National Petroleum Company (CNPC), is a leading partner with the Sudanese government in the country’s production of oil, a major funding source for the government’s sanctioned genocide of the people of Darfur. A 40 percent stakeholder in a major Southern Sudanese oil concession, PetroChina’s parent company is also increasingly difficult to distinguish from...
According to pro-divestment activists, Monday’s divestment from PetroChina made Harvard the first institutional investor to carry through on such a move. Though the action is largely symbolic given the University’s relatively small stake in PetroChina, it could set a precedent. Samantha Powers, a lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government, told The Crimson that although divestment is an “unproven tool” against genocide, Harvard’s decision might “unleash a contagion effect” among other institutions...
...primary involvement with Sudan is in the construction of a pipeline from northern to southern Sudan, which will eventually produce revenues to be split between the Khartoum regime and the fledgling government of south Sudan, which recently ceased a two decades-long war against the north. Where PetroChina dealt solely with the Khartoum government, Sinopec’s revenue-sharing agreement was built into the peace agreement ending the civil war. Harvard’s divestment from Sinopec would theoretically hurt both sides, but the relatively poorer South would hurt more. The complications that arise over Sinopec speak...
...tenuous, to the Sudanese government seem almost endless. Divestment proponents argue that full disclosure of Harvard’s Sudan-related investments (outside of those known from Harvard’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings) is necessary to find more “exceptional” cases like PetroChina. But the quest to rid Harvard’s portfolio of all evil is fraught with pitfalls. The opportunity to go over Harvard’s foreign investments with a fine-toothed comb may make continued divestment proponents salivate. And it might yield a few more companies that Harvard should...
...managers will ensure that they will think twice before straying into morally grey areas. The precedent Harvard set with its symbolic divestment is the real victory for student activists. Now is not a time for more criticism. It is a time for hope that a morally justified divestment from PetroChina will be more than just the right thing to do. Perhaps in some small way it will ultimately lead to better lives for the people of Darfur...