Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Green Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Summits
Business Video
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
Afghan Journal
Africa Journal
India Insight
Global News Journal
Pakistan: Now or Never?
World Video
Politics
Politics Home
Front Row Washington
Politics Video
Technology
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
Felix Salmon
Breakingviews
George Chen
Bernd Debusmann
Gregg Easterbrook
James Pethokoukis
James Saft
John Wasik
Christopher Whalen
Ian Bremmer
Mohamed El-Erian
Lawrence Summers
The Great Debate
Unstructured Finance
Newsmaker
MuniLand
Money
Money Home
Analyst Research
Global Investing
MuniLand
Reuters Money
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Life & Culture
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Left Field
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Article
Comments (0)
Slideshow
Full Focus
Editor's choice
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Full Article
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Netflix falls on Starz contract loss
9:56am EDT
Job growth grinds to halt
|
11:57am EDT
Wall St tumbles after dismal jobs report
|
11:31am EDT
Turkey expels Israeli diplomats after UN report
6:34am EDT
Tropical Storm Katia may not strengthen much Friday - NHC
5:01am EDT
Discussed
177
Labor leaders must pay for parade if GOP banned, mayor says
121
White House to nominate Krueger as top economist
79
UPDATE 1-Obama warns Hurricane Irene flooding could worsen
Watched
Buenos Aires Fashion week sizzles
Mon, Aug 22 2011
Lockheed Martin presents airship of the future
Thu, Aug 18 2011
Experimental plane reaches 13,000 mph
Fri, Aug 26 2011
Chinese tycoon says controversy could kill Iceland deal
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
China says U.N. should lead efforts in post-war Libya
Wed, Aug 24 2011
China urges Libya to protect investments
Tue, Aug 23 2011
Biden tells China not to count out U.S. strength
Sun, Aug 21 2011
Biden seeks to reassure China on U.S. debt
Fri, Aug 19 2011
China, U.S. seek to boost confidence as Biden visits
Thu, Aug 18 2011
Analysis & Opinion
A serious question
My chat with Jon Huntsman about his economic plan
Related Topics
World »
1 of 5. Huang Nubo, Board Chairman of Zhongkun Group points with a laser pen as he explains to his employees during a meeting at his office in Beijing September 2, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Soo Hoo Zheyang
By Sui-Lee Wee and Huang Yan
BEIJING |
Fri Sep 2, 2011 6:12am EDT
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese tycoon whose plans to buy a large patch of land in Iceland have led to suspicions he is a stalking horse for Chinese expansionism said on Friday Beijing itself may force him to halt the deal because of the furor it has caused.
Huang Nubo, a 55-year-old poetry-writing millionaire and former Chinese government official, reached a deal for 1 billion crowns ($8.8 million) to buy the 300 sq km (115 sq miles) Grimsstadir farm, where he plans to build a golf course, hotel and outdoor recreation area.
The planned project is the first major investment by a Chinese company in the North Atlantic island nation, but its strategic location has raised security concerns.
"The government may say: 'Please do not go, do not make trouble," Huang told Reuters in an interview, referring to an application from his company to the Chinese government to approve the deal.
"Maybe they will think: 'Do not arouse any unhappiness for Sino-Iceland relations.' Then I will just give it up."
Huang said Beijing can take up to six months to decide whether to approve the international deal.
But Huang, who is chairman of the Beijing Zhongkun Investment Group Co -- which was founded in 1995 and owns real estate and vacation resorts in several countries -- added: "There's no excuse for them not to approve it. Tourism is in the domain of our bilateral relationship."
The deal also needs final approval from Iceland, which may decide whether to approve his application within 10 days, Huang said later at a news conference.
Interior Minister Ogmundur Jonasson told Reuters on Wednesday that it needed to be looked at carefully, citing issues of selling such a large piece of land to a foreigner and the ownership of natural resources.
Some analysts said security aspects of the deal could not be ignored, due to Iceland's strategic location mid-Atlantic between Europe and the United States, and its proximity to the Arctic where a number of nations are competing on resource claims.
"While this project in Iceland might be a private initiative, it fits in a broader (Chinese) policy agenda to get hold of strategic assets abroad, ranging from land, over raw materials, to know-how," said Jonathan Holslag, head of research at the Institute of Contemporary China Studies in Brussels.
MISINTERPRETING CHINA
The furor over a private land deal underscores the increasing suspicion that many countries, especially those in the West, have with a rapidly rising China.
"It is the West's misinterpretation of China," said Huang. "Everything China does, no matter whether it's done by the country or any individual, they would think it is part of a 'China threat'. This is like how Japan was treated before."
In 2005, China's CNOOC Ltd abandoned a $18.5 billion offer to buy U.S. oil and gas producer Unocal Corp in the face of strident political opposition.
Some analysts said that the political reaction in the West over Chinese deals could trigger a backlash in China that could prove costly for Western businesses.
"Such cases obviously give local policymakers in China support for their story that overseas markets are not open to Chinese investment," said Thilo Hanemann, research director at New York-based Rhodium Group, an economic research firm that looks closely at China's overseas foreign direct investment.
"This creates a feedback loop on overseas firms investing in China and will have a negative impact on European firms who want to invest in China."
Listed 161st on the Forbes list of the richest Chinese in 2010, Huang worked for the Chinese Communist Party's Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Construction in the 1980s and early 1990s.
"Later I didn't want to do it anymore because it's unbearable to be a government official," he said.
This part of his resume has made some uneasy about his intentions for the land. An indignant Huang denied links to the Chinese government and said Beijing "has not given me a single cent."
"They are linking this to strategic concerns," he said. "I think the Westerners have very good imaginations. It's nonsense."
A tall and lean Huang, dressed in a light grey polo shirt, track pants and black sneakers, showed Reuters photographs of himself with Iceland's president and other high-level officials, taken on his most recent trip in July.
"They all said: 'Please come'," said Huang, who is an avid mountaineer and used the trip to trek to the North Pole.
Huang, who has been to Iceland twice and spent a total of 12 days there, called the country "the last resort paradise" in the world. He plans to invest $200 million over four to five years in the first phase of the development.
He said he decided to develop his resort project in Iceland because there were too few business opportunities elsewhere in Europe, Iceland's economy was recovering from a deep recession in 2008 and an increasing number of Chinese tourists were visiting.
Zhongkun manages 46 tourist attractions in China and abroad. It runs a resort in Nashville, Tennessee, and has a branch in Los Angeles that manages an office building and a Californian publishing firm.
Huang later announced grandiose plans linked with the deal. He told a news conference that the company plans to build a tourism chain in Scandinavia within 10 years, using Iceland as the base.
(Additional reporting by Haze Fan and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Ken Wills and Alex Richardson)
World
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Social Stream (What's this?)
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Mobile
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Newsletters
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.