Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) shakes hands with U.S. President Barack Obama during their meeting in London, Britain, on April 1, 2009. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)A Lesson From China In Where Power Lies -- The Telegraph
China believes its economic success reflects its superior culture.
The leaders of the G20 group of rich and developing nations met in Seoul this week for what might reasonably be described as their first post-crisis summit. But it also had the feeling of the first post-Western summit. China, the world’s second richest nation and its rising power, believes that the financial crisis was actually a “North Atlantic crisis”. Now that the worst of it is over, Beijing sees little reason to swallow the medicine for someone else’s sickness. The summit therefore broke up – none too amicably – without really addressing the trade imbalances that were one of the root causes of the crisis, or America’s worry that Beijing is gaining an unfair advantage by artificially keeping its currency weak. Instead, China flexed its muscles and got what it wanted: a watered-down statement that will not force it to change course. If President Obama hoped that the G20 would burnish his image as a world statesman after the disaster of the midterm elections, those hopes were disappointed.
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My Comment: As for the U.S. .... a country that only a few years ago was a nation that most countries tried their best to emulate .... a dawning realization that after the G-20 summit they are now left in the cold.