It is time to face reality on cross-border M&A. Alibaba founder Jack Ma cosied up to the Trump administration earlier and more extensively than other business leaders. The flattery failed to deliver the goods. On Tuesday, the $1.2bn takeover of MoneyGram by Ant Financial, controlled by Mr Ma, was scuppered on national security concerns.
It has been obvious for some time that Chinese bids for US semiconductor assets are futile. With the demise of this payments merger, any Chinese company wanting to buy anything of significance in the US should give up.
The work of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US is opaque and the MoneyGram deal may have faced scrutiny under the Obama administration over data security but it is hard not to detect the influence of China hawks in the administration.