Sinomania!

A week of Asian summits begins tomorrow with the APEC 2009 meeting in Singapore and President Obama's first official junket to China with stops in Shanghai and Beijing. Chinese President Hu is already in Singapore celebrating close ties with the independent Chinese city-state that oversees the world's most precarious shipping choke point. During APEC Hu will meet with Taiwan President Ma's envoy Lien Chan, Kuomintang Party chairman.

In Beijing Obama will have his first official state visit with Chinese Communist Party leaders and already in the USA various right wing interests are pushing for Obama to confront the "ChiComs" with their pet issues such as "human rights" and the need to forcibly appreciate the Chinese currency. Word is Obama will pressure Beijing on climate change. Here's an idea: rather than try fruitlessly to get China to accept sweeping agreements to regulate CO2 emissions and accept Western nation mandates about global warming why not agree to explore a program for both the USA and China to reduce reliance on coal for electric power generation?....

Another weekend, another summit. The annual APEC summit is underway in Lima, Peru, and in the first joint statement from the 20th meeting the nations of the Pacific basin agree to " stand firm against any protectionist sentiment arising out of this crisis."

Behind the scenes China and Taiwan will meet when President Hu Jintao meets with former Taiwan VP Lien Chan in private meeting.