The Current Discussion: China's on a resource-buying spree, most recently paying US$13 billion for a stake in an Australian mining company. Is this a threat to your nation and its economy? To the world's?

Acquiring resources for economic wealth has been the hallmark of modern civilization. Whether in the context of colonial expansion, imperialist conquest or modern wars, economic gain has been one of the motivating factors for each of these actions. In the world of commerce, it’s considered perfectly normal to secure resources via acquisitions and mining rights, subject to a certain acceptable decorum on such acquisitions and conduct of mining. China's case is all the more touchy as it is not a democracy and its standing on human rights is dismal; yet the exigencies of commerce force countries that would in other cases talk of human rights and sanctions to ignore China's conduct.

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