Opinion split on Barack's journey
As Barack Obama stepped down from Airforce One in Shanghai last night, many in the US were apparently split on what kind of country was welcoming him.
The neocons - those who see the world as "we democracies versus you autocracies" - say he is on his way to kowtow to Beijing. Even the phrase "strategic assurance" used by some in the Obama administration has been picked up as a signal US hegemony could be ceded. What they believe is fundamentally old-fashioned thinking.
Meanwhile, the liberals in the US, who are still struggling with the consequences of a decade with an unregulated economy, seem to envy China's role as a banker receiving a profligate client. They worry it has changed the dynamic of the nations' relationship, and that the Chinese are now more interested in a visiting US president's credit standing than listening to him preach about so-called Western models.
