The Trouble with the B–B Axis

The fight for Iraqi oil is a story smugly told. Countless observers have remarked on the irony of Western firms’ withdrawal from southern Iraqi oil fields and the flurry of new contracts between Baghdad and Beijing, in what International Energy Agency chief economist Fatih Birol termed “the B–B axis.” Chinese producers from the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), and the China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) have sna...

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Cyberattacks a growing irritant in US-China ties

Beijing, AP—Signs are growing that the sustained surge in cyberattacks emanating from China is imperiling its relations with the US, lending urgency to fledgling efforts by both governments to engage on the issue. The Pentagon this week said China appeared to be cyberspying against the US government, the first time it has made such an assertion in its annual report on Chinese military power. A bill introduced in the Senate on Tuesday would require the president to block imports of produ...

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