Bending to will...

I view this as less a gravitation toward civility, transparancy, and enlightenment than capitulation from "international" (read: U.S.) pressure.

The cap and trade limitations are particularly interesting given the rapid increase of labor costs and associated inflationary pressures.  This is not a sign of strength.  It should be obvious to even the most obtuse pundits that China lacks the power to bite the hand that feeds.

A self-taught legal activist, Chen asked his supporters and others in the activist community for their understanding of his desire to leave the front lines of the rights struggle in China.

"I am requesting a leave of absence, and I hope that they will understand," he said.

The Chens' departure to the United States marks the conclusion of nearly a month of uncertainty and years of mistreatment by local authorities for the activist.

After seven years of prison and house arrest, Chen made a daring escape from his rural village in late April and was given sanctuary inside the U.S. Embassy, triggering a diplomatic standoff over his fate. With Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Beijing for annual high-level discussions, officials struck a deal that let Chen walk free, only to see him have second thoughts, forcing new negotiations that led to an agreement to send him to the U.S. to study law — a goal of his. New York University and another school have offered to host him

And also this concerning Carbon emissions trading...

China is preparing to run pilot carbon trading schemes beginning in 2013 in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Hubei and Guangdong , major cities with a combined population of 250 million people.
The government's goal is to introduce a national trading scheme by 2015, just two years after the seven pilot programs are scheduled to be in place