Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao gestures the way forward for visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 23, 2008. European Union (EU) and Asian leaders are gathered in the Chinese capital for the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on October 24 and 25. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
Asian and European leaders met in Beijing over the weekend and winds, as you can see were very strong. That gave us beautiful clear days in the capital. The final communique from the meeting was pretty windy too despite being loaded down with platitudes and truisms. The one interesting aspect was the pressure the Europeans and others put on China to take a bigger role in managing the world financial crisis. Beijing remains cautious, however, seeing itself a a) still a developing country and b) something of a victim of the crisis, which official media have clearly and consistently blamed on the U.S. At a closing press conference, Premier Wen Jiabao reflected that attitude, promising that China would cooperate fully an “pragmatically” with other countries but equally obviously not willing to make any major new commitments. On to the next meeting in Washington on November 15 (which Wen will be attending), where the world will be expecting considerably more concrete measures.
(Completely off subject, but look at the height of the guards at the Great Hall of the People. Merkel is 5’8″, biggish for a European woman, but these guys make her look like a midget. Chosen to impress, perhaps?)