Will a gang of three Republicans save Lenovo's shareholders? The American politicians' opposition to the Chinese computer maker's acquisition of IBM's loss-making PC business could stop Lenovo following in the footsteps of TCL International, the Chinese consumer electronics group.

TCL took a majority stake in a vehicle into which Thomson of France unloaded its loss-making TV and DVD operation. TCL then offered a similar service to Alcatel's loss-making mobile phone handset business.