Port management and port ownership (#109; Topic F)

In the last few weeks, Dubai Ports World, a private company owned by the government of Dubai, a member of the United Arab Emirates, was a hot topic (#96). For $6.8 billion, DPW bought the right to manage selected berths in 6 seaports in eastern USA (and other non-USA assets) from Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., a UK company. In the name of national security, this deal brought about a congressional uproar. In response, DPW first offered a 45-day cooling-off period (suggested by former US president Bill Clinton, a consultant to DPW); with this face-saving gesture failing to dent the mounting opposition, DPW (through a private suggestion by president George W. Bush) was then forced to divest the management right of these 6 seaports to a US entity. This incident reminded me of an indignity forced upon China for some 156 years. UK, the imperial power of the 19th century, after winning the Opium War in 1842, concocted several unequal treaties, first forcing China to open 5 seaports on her east coast (Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou, Xiamen, and Quangzhou) and granting UK the right to occupy Hong Kong; then, in later treaties, forcing China to surrender the control -- not only management but also the ownership, including the collection of customs dues -- of these ports. Only with the return of Hong Kong in 1997 was these 19th century opium warlords finally evicted from China to end this indignity. Thus, it is difficult for me, an old man out of China, to understand why USA willingly allowed her former colonial boss to manage her ports.
Posted 5:49 pm, Monday, March 20, 2006