Thin line between love and hate

“We hate you guys,” Luo Ping, director-general at the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), told the US yesterday. China hates the fact that it has no choice but to continue buying US Treasuries, and clearly believes it is trapped in an abusive relationship in which its love of good macroecomomic policy compels it to tolerate the current American economic tantrum. “We know the dollar is going to depreciate,” Luo compained. “But there is nothing much we can do.” China also hates milk scandals, and consumers are getting quite sick of them too, literally, but here’s another one: Mengniu and Dumex (part of the Danone group) are both under investigation for putting osteoblast milk protein and melamine in their milk products. “Osteoblasts” are not, apparently, as fun as they sound. Sigh. But China loves Taiwan, as everyone knows, and according to Dennis Blair, the new US head of national intelligence, China is focusing on expressing that love through military expansion. It is also expressing its love of its national interests and its territorial integrity by developing short- to medium-range ballistic missiles, which it could use to shower love of its own territorial integrity on US forces in the Pacific. Finally, China loves Africa. In Mali this week, Chinese President Hu Jintao vowed to increase aid to African countries, cancel debt, and expand trade and investment, which hit US$106.8 billion last year.