Who? Us?

Beijing is starting to think the US is getting paranoid. China’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday officially denied that its legions of World of Warcraft-loving hackers had insert malicious code into US electrical grid systems with their nicotine-stained fingers. In China’s defense, the White House has also denied these reports, although, you would kind of expect them to.  A little more tension on the US-China front today as US producers of steel pipes used for oil and gas drilling filed trade complaints against China over alleged unfair competition. Steelmakers and the United Steelworkers Union are seeking fresh tariffs against Chinese imports, a familiar tale of job losses and so-called unfair trade practices seen across sectors in China, except this time we get to use the strangely satisfying phrase “oil country tubular goods”. As trade tension mounts yet again between the US and China, another of the ties that had bound these two proud nations together in previous months is also at risk: complaining about the French. Yes, it appears that French and Chinese bilateral relations are on the mend following that whole Sarkozy-meets-Dalai-Lama incident. A Chinese delegation may head to France for a shopping spree and some official visits by both sides are said to be in the works.