If nothing else, a visit to China confirms that the economic
centre of gravity is shifting to Asia and that trend is being
accelerated by the global recession. It is Asia, not the U.S., that
is lifting the world out of recession and that has not happened
before. The burgeoning economic growth of China is palpable in many
ways, as is the entrepreneurial, deal-making zeal of many Chinese.
Confidence and pride are rising too, fuelling strong nationalist
impulses which, in turn, can be aroused from time to time to
counter "splittist" tendencies, whether from Tibet or
Xinjiang (Uighur country.) Despite the obvious benefits of strictly
guided capitalism, there is unease in China about the underlying
causes of the global recession. Major flaws in the West's
financial systems and regulatory oversight seem to be quelling some
reformist ardour in Beijing. At least that was the candid view of
senior reform elements in the state apparatus who see their more
conservative
