Ordinary Gweilo

An interesting piece in the comment section of yesterday’s SCMP (that’s not something I say very often) from Robert Keatley, one of many ex-editors of the paper who are knocking around. He contrasts the rather poor image that George Bush has around the world with the good impression that Wen Jiabao and other Chinese leaders are creating.

The United States doesn’t seem to do much listening, but wants the world to do what it wants, whereas China seems to do a lot of listening, particularly to its Asian neighbours. The US is introducing quotas and tarrifs whilst China is opening its markets to imports (and is now a major market for Japanese exports, for example).

I can’t link to the article, but if you have a copy of the SCMP sitting at home it would be worth reading this piece.