Play Fair -- And Insist That China Do the Same

With crude oil hovering around $60 a barrel due in part to China's growing appetite for oil, natural gas, and gasoline, it's no surprise that Beijing is shopping for energy resources. Still, the $18.5 billion cash bid by CNOOC Ltd., an energy company 70% owned by the Chinese government, for Unocal Corp., based in El Segundo, has raised alarms in Washington and calls for President George W. Bush to intervene on national security grounds. That would be a mistake. There's no evidence that China's attempt to buy reserves in the ground is a bigger threat than its buying energy by the tankerful. And blocking the Unocal purchase to punish Beijing for other trade practices, as China critics advocate, would be counterproductive. The effort would not only fail to halt Beijing's global hunt for reserves but would also rekindle suspicions that the West seeks to contain China. That would make Beijing even more prickly.