If anyone just read all the releases again which involved the NDRC since July 2012, one can be forgiven that the Sundance takeover was being initiated by the NDRC (and not HanLong).
It would apprear the HanLong "private company" disguise was no longer needed in the face of new challenges and circumstances and INSTEAD became a problem.
As I previously speculated, the No-Shop-No-Talk waiver was not seen as a concession. The horse in the eyes of the Chinese may have already bolted.
This would be consistent with George Jones comment (at the most acrimonious stage of the Merrill-Hanlong Sundance massacre) that there could be a PLAN-B.
Hence, I mentioned in my previous post that it could arguably be much earlier that China decided HanLong had to be ditched.
Hanlong could only have been ditched (AFTER the mining permits and conventions were already granted). Hence media campaign of SOE taking over began in earnest culminating in Liu's disappearance 48 hours before CDB term sheet.
SDL Price at posting:
10.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held