China's tentacles of connectivity just keep growing

■"How Mr. Kong Helped Turn China Into a Film Power: Producer Weds Low-Cost, High-Quality Projects With U.S. Distribution," by Geoffrey A. Fowler and Karen Mazurkewich, Wall Street Journal, 14 September 2005, p. A1.

■"Chinese Firms to Pay $1.42 Billion For EnCana Oil Assets in Ecuador," by Ben Dummett, Wall Street Journal, 14 September 2005, p. A3.

■"Citigroup Sets Chinese ATM Deal," by James T. Areddy, Wall Street Journal, 14 September 2005, p. D5.

I said it several times at several points today in various conversations with people at the Enterprise Resilience Management conference in Manhattan: politicians and military leaders in both China and the U.S. basically have no idea how intertwined are our two countries economic fates-already.

You'll see it in content, where Chinese studios will eventually attract a Hollywood that's always looking to cut costs. You'll see it in energy, where China will continue to buy assets in Latin America and North America, thus impinging in two regions upon which America truly is dependent for foreign oil. You'll see it in the banking and financial sectors, as American companies, eager to access that high savings rates, will increasingly buy weak Chinese financial institutions as entry fees for penetrating that vast market (hell, just $1 charges on ATMs is enough for Citigroup to come en masse).

Some may plan for high-tech war in the Pentagon, but the facts on the ground are being established in the economic realm far faster than any established in the security realm. Same old, same old. Economics races ahead of politics, technology and networks race ahead of security. Don't look for intell from Washington on China, look to Wall Street.