Its Official...

...the Paper Dragon has now capitulated somewhat.  Recall all those silly tomes designed to induce fright regarding the downfall of America and the rise of China as the ascendent hyper-power.

It is Russia that will suprise us with Imperial ambition, not the Middle Kingdom.

HONG KONG — Premier Wen Jiabao of China warned on Sunday of “huge downward pressure” on the Chinese economy, in the clearest expression yet of concern at the top of the country’s leadership about a sharp slowdown in recent months.