Two months ago, Barack Obama made his first visit to China, smiled politely for the cameras at the Great Wall and the Forbidden City and offered his Chinese hosts an unprecedented level of partnership in solving global problems.
“We know that more is to be gained when great powers co-operate than when they collide,” he said. The notion of a US-China “G2” began to gain currency.
Yet only eight weeks later, the idea that the US and China will forge a two-nation clearing house for international disputes is looking increasingly questionable. The threat by Google to withdraw from China as a result of censorship and hacking is only the latest in a series of skirmishes that have undermined hoped-for harmony.