Room in 'elevator' for emerging economies

I have heard some pundits in the United States, such as Edward Luttwak, a military strategist, describing fast-growing China as a fat man entering an elevator. They say that because the man is so large he should be ultra-polite to people already in the elevator.

This description not only distorts the reality, it sows the seeds for more misunderstanding and distrust.

China is not a fat man, but a healthy, growing adolescent.