Should Congress head off China's unocal bid? Oil supply shouldn't be allowed to fall under the control of foreign forces.

When Richard Nixon made his historic voyage to the People's Republic of China in 1972, his actions coincided with a renewed hope for mutual cooperation between our two countries.

Over 30 years later, however, the economic greed and corporate insatiability of communist China has weakened this sense of hope and undermined the cooperation between our countries. Unfortunately, the latest example of this gluttony is occurring fight here in California, where the Chinese government is angling for acquisition of a critical United States energy company.

In recent years, China has been scouting the globe buying foreign oil firms and making deals to secure energy reserves to feed its growing economy. Now their sights have become firmly fixed on Unocal Corp., which, as America's ninth largest oil company, produces 159,000 barrels of oil and more than 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. If we are not careful, the potential acquisition of El Segundo-based Unocal by China National Offshore Oil Corp. will not only leave America's energy supplies dangerously inadequate, but it will also seriously damage our national security.

As the Middle East has become an increasingly volatile source of foreign oil, the United States has made it a point to diversify the countries from which we import oil and gas. Canada, Russia, Venezuela and Mexico have all become important suppliers. Now, in many of these countries, Chinese firms are pumping oil and natural gas in areas that the United States was counting on to meet our own demand.

In Canada, Chinese firms have signed three deals this year to tap Alberta's vast oil-sands reserves and to join a pipeline venture to bring crude oil to the Pacific coast, where it can be shipped to China. Now the Chinese have turned their sights south toward the United States. If we allow CNOOC to proceed with the acquisition of Unocal, we may only further weaken our domestic energy supply at a time when our foreign energy resources are becoming increasingly limited.

This acquisition would also provide the Chinese government with access to sensitive technologies. We simply cannot trust CNOOC, a state-owned corporation with ties to communist government leaders, with access to certain dual-use commercial and military technologies that the United States would otherwise restrict from China. We must recognize this proposed acquisition for the thinly veiled politically motivated scheme that it is and respond by protecting our vital domestic energy supplies from the threat of foreign usurpers.

Recognizing the threat to our nation's domestic energy supply and national security, I have co-signed a letter with 40 other members of Congress urging Secretary of the Treasury John Snow to fully investigate the proposed acquisition of Unocal. Furthermore, the House of Representatives recently passed a resolution expressing the sense that CNOOC's acquisition of Unocal warrants a thorough review to determine its potential ramifications to our economy and security.

The Chinese government has responded to our genuine concerns with contempt and disregard. Their government has demanded that Congress "correct its mistaken ways" and stop interfering in "a normal commercial activity between enterprises." Conveniently, they forget that normal commercial activity is not usually undertaken by a state-sponsored corporation.

This double standard strikes fight at the heart of CNOOC's proposed acquisition--namely, it is a flagrant transgression on the part of communist China to monopolize the world's energy supplies at the expense of America's natural resources and national security.

Our energy resources are vital components of the nation's defense, transportation and commercial infrastructures, and must be protected from the malicious assaults of foreign governments. The proposed acquisition of Unocal by CNOOC, unfortunately, is one such underhanded attack that directly threatens our energy resources and weakens our national security.

Now more than ever, the United States must be on guard against this sort of implicit attack and instead promote a safe and sensible domestic energy policy to protect our national energy resources.

U.S. Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar, represents the 42nd Congressional District.