Striking Workers Disrupt $2.5m Indo-China Deal

Indo-Chinese relations aren't exactly at an all time high these days,  a long festering border dispute, and India's recent increase in military activity along the disputed demarcation line that seperates China and India haven't done much to ease tensions.

The military action is caused ripples in Chinese industry, in one instance, a strike at a tire factory in Shandong, where it's been made clear that Indian management that would take control of the plant are not welcome.

The Chinese workforce at the Cooper Tires factory in Shandong have been on strike since July, and it's causing problems for a takeover worth $2.5m, since the new owners, Indian based Apollo Tires would then have a 65% controlling stake in the Chinese-US joint venture.  Putting it quite simply, the problem is that they're Indian.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, the Cooper Shandong's union rep, a Mr. Liang said “We oppose this purchase also because Apollo is an Indian company.  If it was Michelin, we might have agreed.”

The strike comes at a particularly unwelcome time, since Liang Keqiang's visit to India in May was supposed to help the two countries increase trade, although now that Mr. Liang has dug his heels in over the nationality of the incoming management team because he wasn't involved in the deal to the extent that his ego demands - and has thrown a multimillion dollar deal into chaos.

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