Barb reflects badly on US

US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA PROBABLY didn't anticipate his interview with The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman in the White House Map Room, in which China was mentioned only on the sidelines, would stir up such an exasperated response across the Pacific.

For days, Chinese media have been running rebuttals of Obama's portrayal of China as a "free rider".

Obama's remarks are one-sided, unfair, and inconsistent with facts, argue the most-quoted international relations scholars. Angrier commentators see the US' arrogance behind it.