ARTICLE: China-U.S. Trade Dispute Has Broad Implications, By KEITH BRADSHER, New York Times, September 14, 2009

The key bit:

For many years, American politicians have been able to take credit domestically for standing up to China by enacting largely symbolic measures against Chinese exports in narrowly defined categories. In the last five years, the U.S. Commerce Department has restricted Chinese imports of goods as diverse as bras and oil well equipment.

For the most part, Chinese officials have grumbled but done little, preferring to preserve a lopsided trade relationship in which the United States buys $4.46 worth of Chinese goods for every $1 worth of American goods sold to China.

Now, the delicate equilibrium is being disturbed.

All this connectivity that has sprung up between us in the past two decades comes with a lot of ability to confound the other with domestic politics. Both sides must resist the temptation to use protectionism to put off much economic change, and we need to be more careful than China, because we've got the experience in tamping down such nationalism, whereas, for China, these are much newer and scarier dynamics. Note the quote about how Beijing freaks when the Chinese netizens freak. This is no way to run a country, but it's the breakthrough/best China's got right now.

(Via WPR's Media Roundup)