The Economist on China's recent moves
Friday, May 8, 2009 at 3:26AM ASIA: "China and the G20: Taking the summit by strategy; Viewed from home, China and its president, Hu Jintao, had a good G20," The Economist, 11 April 2009.
Gist: China felt a lot of respect coming its way at the recent G20 summit, and clearly enjoyed it. In the run-up to the show, Beijing demonstrated that is wants to be treated as a source of new ideas as to how the system should be run. Despite downplaying the G2 notion (the only two powers that matter are the U.S. and the PRC), the gotcha photo of the gathering was Hu and Obama alone.
Me: All very true and all good to see, but these are just the baby steps for the regime in terms of actually displaying leadership. The key thing is that China is stepping up confidently during a time of crisis. That is a very good sign.
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