Originally Posted by
YVR Cockroach
One can make an offer if one fully knows the other side will reject it, thus making one look good. I'm sure there's a Sun Tzu Art of War saying that cover this.
Apparently, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, et al didn't reject the offer (or modifications were minimal). It's not China's fault that the US DOT bends over backwards for US carriers and their lobbyists.