LEAL, Sudan, Dec 23, 2004 -- On this flat and dusty African plain, China's largest energy company is pumping crude oil, sending it 1,000 miles upcountry through a Chinese-made pipeline to the Red Sea, where tankers wait to ferry it to China's industrial cities. Chinese laborers based in a camp of prefabricated sheds work the wells and lay highways across the flats to make way for heavy machinery.

Only seven miles south, the rebel army that controls much of southern Sudan marches troops through this sun-baked town of mud huts. For years, the rebels have attacked oil installations, seeking to deprive the Sudan government of the wherewithal to pursue a civil war that has killed more than 2 million people and displaced 4 million from their homes over the past two decades. But the Chinese laborers are protected : They work under the vigilant gaze of Sudanese government troops armed largely with Chinese-made weapons -- a partnership of the world's fastest-growing oil consumer with a pariah state accused of fostering genocide in its western Darfur region.

[. . . . ] "The Chinese have every reason not to lose these oil fields and that is why they are committed to fighting the war by supplying the Sudan government the wherewithal," Akol said.

A recent report published in the state-controlled China Business News quotes a Chinese foreign affairs official as saying that Beijing "cooperates with the Sudan government" on security and has asked Khartoum to "send troops" to areas in which Chinese companies operate.

The exit of Canada's Talisman company from Sudan was largely a reaction to public pressure. China National Petroleum has felt similar pressures. In April 1999, the company announced plans to sell shares on the New York Stock Exchange -- the first Chinese state-owned firm to land on the Big Board. It was to be the largest initial public offering in the exchange's history, valued at $10 billion. But human rights groups said the deal would be the effective use of U.S. financing to aid the killing of innocents in Sudan. Eventually, CNPC restructured the transaction. It sold $2.9 billion in a newly created subsidiary, PetroChina, asserting that none of the money would be used in Sudan.

Ultimately, it may be peace that presents the Chinese firm with its greatest challenge. Under the terms of an agreement still being negotiated, oil contracts are supposed to remain secure. But three commanders of the southern Sudan rebel group said in interviews that the SPLA will seek to punish China once the rebels gain a formal decision-making role in the government.

The stakes could be considerable : Peace would allow the world's major energy companies to enter Sudan's oil patch. Moreover, roughly two-fifths of all known reserves -- oil worth more than $16 billion -- are now in rebel-controlled territory, according to the study by PFC, the strategic analysis group.
"The suffering of the people is on the hands of the Chinese," said commander Deng Awou. "The agreements for the Chinese company may be terminated."

Calgary – A senior executive with a major, state-owned oil company in China says they are investigating investment opportunities in Alberta's oilsands.

Qiu Xianghua, a vice-president with Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production, told a business crowd that the oilsands are a "remarkable resource."

Wilf Gobert, with Peters and Company, says high oil prices have triggered increased interest in the province's oilsands, but there may not be room for more major players. [. . . . ]

China, with 21 per cent of the world's population, has about 1.8 per cent of the world's oil supply, and it is a major consumer of raw materials.

"China therefore cannot develop its country relying on its own resources," Xianghua said. "China needs oil resources and has a big market. Canada needs a market, so to invest in Canada would be mutually beneficial and complementary to both countries."

Operation Sidewinder, an American-Canadian operation set up to root out Chinese agents in Canada was shut down by former New Democratic Party Ontario Premier Bob Rae. Rae’s brother John was the campaign manager for Chretien and is a senior executive at Power Corp.

[. . . . How] is it that Canada is riding the crest of an economic wave, its stock market outperforming most other global markets and the country being hailed as one of the world's most fiscally responsible?

The answer is oil, and China's demand for raw materials to fuel its industrial revolution, a fortuitous conjunction that helped make this a superb year for the land of the maple leaf.

[. . . . ] The one black mark against Canada is its lack of productivity. For years, the cheap dollar hid the inefficiencies of made-in-Canada products. [. . . . ]

As the Economist magazine reported, it is not only 1.2 billion Chinese who should hope that their leaders succeed in bringing that nation's economy in for a soft landing.

"The rest of the world also now has a huge stake in China's continued economic health ... During the past three years China has accounted for one-third of global economic growth, twice as much as America. In the past year, China's official GDP growth rate has surged to 9.7 per cent. Even this may underestimate the true rate, which some economists reckon was as high as 13 per cent." [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] The Communist Party functions as a self-perpetuating mandarinate.

Will Martin challenge that? In Beijing? In any meaningful way?

Not if his recent speech to the Canada-China Business Council's annual dinner is any indicator. In a far-ranging address, Martin spoke of the more than 1 million Canadians who now claim Chinese origin. He described China as a "new global power" with a fast-expanding, market-driven economy and investment opportunities. He also forecast greater Canada/China co-operation in trade, public health, the battle against terror and the environment. He even rightly mentioned Canada's concern that human rights be respected. As Amnesty International reports, China still jails dissidents, harasses religious cults and censors the media.

But the word "democracy" never once fell from his lips. [. . . . ]

"We have to understand and engage with this new reality - a new China linked in new ways to an evolving world," Martin said Monday evening at the annual meeting of the Canada China Business Council in Toronto.

"And . . . members of our business community are at the forefront of this effort. Canadian businesses, large and small, should be doing what you have done - developing and implementing strategies for China."

Martin said the dollars to be made in China do not eclipse concerns about human rights abuses -- a topic he said he intends to bring up when he travels to China on a trade mission next month.

[. . . . ] Martin said China's economy is growing at about three times Canada's economic growth, and has fuelled interest in "our natural resources wealth."

Picking up on that line, Qiu Xianghua, vice-president of Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp, said in a speech Monday that China has huge energy needs.

Prime Minister Paul Martin said China's economy will soon be greater than that of the United States, and urged Canada to do more business with the Asian giant. [. . . . ]

Reports have been hitting the news lately of the overburdened port of Vancouver, where goods coming from China are piling up awaiting their transfer to a train bound for Eastern Canada. The situation is undoubtedly annoying - but there are significant implications for the economy, too.

Consider that some 15 per cent of Canada's imports come from Asia, and most of those would pass through Vancouver. The total value of this stream is therefore on the order of $55 billion annually, or nearly $5 billion per month. The flow is not smooth, however - there is a disproportionate level of shipments in the second half of the year as retailers stock up for the holiday season. [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] Control of major companies such as Noranda and Husky would give Beijing considerable leverage to try to pressure Ottawa into silence on issues like human rights abuses in China, its occupation of Tibet and its relations with Taiwan.

It would also allow Beijing to rob us of opportunities to expand our economy by shifting upstream activities, such as refining and processing and the jobs that go with them, to China.

Such concerns have led Anne Golden, president of the pro-business Conference Board of Canada, to suggest that a parliamentary review of the Investment Canada Act is urgently needed to ensure that Canadians have adequate protections against the dangers posed by takeovers by foreign governments.

That is wise advice.

Ottawa must take the appropriate steps to distinguish between foreign investments that strengthen our country and those that would put key parts of the Canadian economy under another country's flag.

VANCOUVER, Dec. 23 /CNW Telbec/ - APAC Minerals Inc. (TSX-VEN: APC) is pleased to announce the signing of an agreement with Golden China Inc. ("Golden China") in order to consolidate exploration and development, operations and merchant banking opportunities within the Chinese mining industry.

The combined company will have cash and liquid securities on hand of in excess of Cdn$20 million (Cdn$16 million in cash; $4 million in liquid securities, based on current market prices), creating one of China's premier precious metal companies.

[. . . . ] About APAC Minerals Inc.:

APAC Minerals is an exploration company that owns or has interests in the mineral rich Golden Triangle in Southwest China and Inner Mongolia. The Company intends to explore and develop these properties, and to acquire additional properties worthy of exploration and development. Currently, the Company is completing a merger with Golden China Inc. in order to build critical mass in the Chinese mining industry.

About Golden China Inc.:

Golden China is a private company engaged in merchant banking in the precious metals sector in China, sponsored by the Kingsway Group. The Kingsway Group's parent company, Kingsway International Holdings Limited (TSX:KIH) is one of the leading middle tier investment banks in the Asia Pacific region. Kingsway Group's Chinese roots and global reach enable it to serve as a bridge between the major international financial centres and China's rapidly developing markets. Golden China has completed a "special warrant" financing at Cdn$1.00 per unit, that raised proceeds of approximately Cdn$20 million. Each unit consists of a special warrant that is exchangeable for one common share of Golden China and one half share purchase warrant exercisable at Cdn$1.50 other than those issued in exchange for shares of Mundoro Mining which consist of a full share purchase Warrant. It holds an approximate 5.2% equity interest in Mundoro Mining (TSX: MUN), and is developing a number of high potential opportunities within the Chinese precious metals sector. [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] According to the [textile] industry group, about 350,000 or one-third of the country's textile and apparel jobs have disappeared since 2001. Johnson predicts that as many as 650,000 jobs will be lost in the United States over the next two years if the quotas are completely eliminated.

Similar concerns are being expressed by Canadian textile companies. Ottawa announced Dec. 14 that tariffs on imported fabrics, now 10 to 14 per cent, will be eliminated unless the same fabric is made in Canada. Textile imports from China are up an estimated 18 per cent this year, accounting for one-third of Canada's cloth imports.

Job cuts are expected. Last week came an announcement that several textile mills in a Quebec town will close, impacting 700 jobs.

Right now, most of the major U.S. players are located in the Southeast, including companies such as Milliken & Co., Springs Industries, International Textile Group and others like Avondale Mills, Mount Vernon, National Textiles and Carolina Mills.
Some U.S. companies have already moved production offshore to Mexico and China.

Just this month, Greensboro-based ITG announced a partnership with China Ting Group, a Hong Kong-based manufacturer and retailer of textile products.

The companies plan to build a plant in Hangzhou, China, to dye and finish interior fabrics. The plant, plus a warehouse and a distribution centre, will be running by the end of 2005, ITG chief executive Wilbur Ross said. [. . . . ]

Maiden, N.C. [. . . . ] Slashing jobs

The mills that make fabric and thread and the shops that cut and sew clothing have shed more than half of their workers in the past decade — to 685,600 in November from almost 1.6 million at the end of 1994, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That number will drop to 449,800 by 2012, the BLS projects, though other forecasts are more dire.

"I would guess that something like three-quarters of those [remaining jobs] would probably be lost in the next year or two," said Wilbur Ross, chief executive of W.L. Ross & Co., the global investment firm that acquired and merged Burlington Industries and Cone Mills into the International Textile Group earlier this year.

[. . . . ] Mr. Ross is expanding ITG's overseas operations. On Dec. 10, he announced a partnership with a Hong Kong company to build a dyeing and finishing plant in Hangzhou, China.

"China is by far the single biggest factor in the world in apparel," Mr. Ross said.

ITG this month also bought a Canadian wool company and plans to build a factory in Guatemala if a free-trade agreement with the country is approved by Congress. [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] Southeastern states expect to continue losing positions in the clothing and fabric industries. North Carolina has almost 90,000 workers in the industry; and Catawba County, where Maiden is located, has one of the higher concentrations of textile and apparel workers in the state — about 5,400.

Layoffs in textile and apparel, as well as the furniture and fiber-optics manufacturing industries, have led to a surge in dislocated workers. The county's unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in January 2001, but hit 9.4 percent by that December. As of October 2004, the number of jobs in the county had declined by more than 10,000 since January 2001.

Most laid-off workers end up working for less money than they made in a textile or apparel factory, according to a December report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Two-thirds of re-employed workers earn less on their new jobs than they did on their previous jobs, and one-quarter experience earnings losses in excess of 30 percent. [. . . . ]

Canada is Colorado's No. 1 trade partner, followed by Mexico and Japan. But the growth rate of state exports to mainland China is the most dramatic.

"It is very possible that China could become Colorado's largest market over the next decade," said James Nelson, partner of the Denver-based law firm Lindquist & Vennum. Nelson, as Gates Corp. general counsel, helped the maker of machinery belts and hoses enter China in the mid-1990s.

Colorado is on track this year to equal or exceed its $6.6 billion total export record of 2000, mostly because of China.

"China has been the major contributor to that strong recovery," said Jim Reis, president of the World Trade Center Denver.

Be patient and develop relationships: "If you are doing business in China, be prepared to go there quite a few times," said Arnie Clarke, of Laser Technology in Englewood.

WASHINGTON When 11 Latin American countries took the first steps toward a regional common market in 1960, dismissive U.S. officials predictably joked that the ill-fated Latin American Free Trade Agreement would generate "more tears than Lafta."

But no one was laughing this month in Peru when all 12 South American nations pledged themselves to an EU-style political and economic community. The South American Community of Nations - which by definition excludes Mexico, the United States and Canada - envisions a common market, a regional constitution and Parliament.

The display of unity in Peru was as much about South America as it was about the North - specifically the United States. A more unified group of South American nations is seen as a way to strengthen their collective bargaining power in trade negotiations with the almighty yankees.

Meanwhile, Washington has been slow to respond to the new dynamics of the Americas. The United States must accept that it can no longer take Latin America for granted and ignore its needs.

American policy toward the region is "old fashioned and murky," says Rubens Barbosa, a former Brazilian ambassador to Washington. "The U.S. has not recognized the changes in the region after Nafta. There is a new economic geography in the Americas."

Indeed, always bound more by geography than ideology, America and its Latin neighbors are drifting apart. As Washington moves to the right, the rest of the hemisphere is moving to the left. [. . . . ]

In contrast, President Hu Jintao of China spent two weeks traveling the region signing $30 billion in trade and development deals with Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Cuba. Last year, China became Brazil's second-largest trading partner behind the United States. [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] Castro said the deposit was located off the coast of Santa Cruz del Norte, east of Havana, during an exploratory drilling. He said production at the site could begin during 2006.

Cuba currently produces 75,000 barrels daily, about half of what it needs. It imports most of the rest, much of it on favourable terms from political ally Venezuela.

Oil specialists believe Cuba's waters in the Gulf of Mexico could contain large quantities of crude, just as those of Mexico and the United States do. Earlier explorations turned up only modest discoveries.