OPINION: "Stengthen (sic!) U.S.-China Trade Ties," by Chen Deming, Wall Street Journal, 27 April 2009.

BUSINESS DAY: "Where False Rings True: China Builds Phones On a Versatile Chip," by David Barboza, New York Times, 28 April 2009.

BUSINESS: "Intellectual property in China: Battle of ideas; Chinese companies are enforcing patents against foreign firms," The Economist, 25 April 2009.

The piece by the Chinese commerce minister is just fine, citing all sorts of smart cooperation in trade and finance--especially the call to restart Doha.

But the credibility suffers when there's no mention of intellectual property protection. America suffered (or prospered from) a long bout of such piracy, but then grew up. China will have to grow up much faster and it really is, in many ways, but the subject needs to be out there more from the Chinese, like in the realm of communications technologies (like the phone copying described above).

Already, Chinese companies are starting to seek such protections abroad and at home from foreign competition, so what's good for their geese must be good for our ganders. China's applications for patents are skyrocketing, so I expect this situation to resolve itself in relatively short--historically speaking--terms.

In short, the younger kids always grow up faster than the elder ones, and as far as this globalization is concerned, China is a lot younger.