In recent months Beijing has been cracking down at home and lashing out abroad.  China watchers are perplexed about the origins and implications of the new assertiveness.  Many believe a threshold has been breached and that China is going to become more difficult to deal with.  Others see merely the 30-year pattern of fang and shou, opening and closing, in which one step back is followed by two steps forward.

Since the adoptions of a fairly progressive decision on intra-party democracy at September’s plenary session of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, political reforms have stalled.  The foreign business climate has also deteriorated bady, with multinationals complaining of a host of new operating constraints and protectionist measures.  Some western executives with long experience in China say it is the worst they have since 1989-92.  Meanwhile the country’s trade and currency surpluses continue to balloon.

Financial Times – Feb 17 2010

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