World Crisis Online

Obama arrives in Shanghai, on a blustery, cold day, the American media has him portrayed him as hat in hand, offering reassurance that the US will be able to pay back the hundreds of billions it has cadged from China and trying to persuade China to pony up even more. Related articles Our Endorsement for Barack Obama Pessimism Erupted in Washington Days Before Obama Meets Hu in London Hu-Obama:G2 Taking Shape? Kirk on China: A Diplomat Rather Than A Fire Brand Ideologist

“When President Obama visits China for the first time on Sunday, he will, in many ways, be assuming the role of profligate spender coming to pay his respects to his banker,” states The New York Times in a lead article.

Even Chinese in the street can feel that the financial crisis has brought about a sea change in the balance between China and the US. Is US still “the” superpower or must it now share that stage with China? When Bill Clinton, and even the George W. Bush visited, China was eager to stabilize the bilateral relationship and the term “strategic partnership” seemed ubiquitous. Chinese leaders gave US presidents “face,” releasing a dissident or two from the list the presidents had ready to hand. Face giving extended even to then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. Whenever, as secretary, he dropped in on China, though he had done so dozens of times previously, the government would let renminbi (RMB), its currency, appreciate a bit to “welcome” him.

But this president, exuding charm and sporting the prestige of the most recent Nobel Peace Prize, comes shadowed by the cold, hard reality of the US economy: while the US recently reported a healthy 3.5% third quarter GDP growth, suggesting that the most severe recession since the Great Depression is over, the American economy is acknowledged to be weaker than official data suggest. “The story of the US is one of two economies