Here comes China
Against the backdrop of the growing discussion/concern in Silicon Valley about China as an economic superpower that might eclipse the US one day comes this first bid by a Chinese company for a major US corporation. According to this New York Times story (registration required):
One of China's largest state-controlled oil companies made a $18.5 billion unsolicited bid Thursday for Unocal, signaling the first big takeover battle by a Chinese company for an American corporation.
...CNOOC's bid, which comes two months after Unocal agreed to be sold to Chevron, the American energy giant, for $16.4 billion, is expected to incite a potentially costly bidding war over the California-based Unocal, a large independent oil company. CNOOC said its offer represents a premium of about $1.5 billion over the value of Unocal's deal with Chevron after a $500 million breakup fee.