Final Word from Thursday, August 16, 2018
The New York Times ran a front-page story this week about the risk of letting China in and succeeded in not providing a single piece of new information. The authors had a chance to take the narrative in a new direction but let it slip by. They asked Citic Group, which is firmly controlled by Beijing, to comment on its agreement to buy just under half of CEFC Europe, but Citic didn't respond. Isn't that odd, the authors could have asked? Why would a major international company not jump at the chance to toot its own horn about its big European investment, esp. after outgoing Chinese Amb. Ma Keqing told MFD on Aug. 1 that Citic had already acquired CEFC's assets? The NYT could have also asked why Citic is using an untraceable company in the British Virgin Islands to take "exclusive control" over CEFC Group (Europe) Company a.s., when China has its own offshore paradise called Hong Kong. And if the deal is done, as the former ambassador stated, why is there no sign of it in the commercial registry? The big Czech-Chinese mystery missed by the NYT is: Who owns CEFC Europe? [Czech Republic Mladá fronta CITIC Jarolsav Tvrdík]
Glossary of difficult words
to let someone in - to give access or privilege to someone;
to toot one's own horn - to boast or brag about one's own abilities, skills, success, achievements, etc.;
untraceable - unable to be found, discovered, or traced.