Right Pulse

We have to turn to the US edition of the WSJ to find some criticism of China’s handling of the Rio Tinto legal case:

China has upped its ore purchases in recent weeks even as mainland growth seems to be slowing, suggesting an effort to lay in a stockpile for a longer showdown against Rio-BHP.

If the Rio arrests mark the beginning of a Chinese war to remake the global ore market more to China’s liking, Beijing might want to think again…Ensuring nobody wants to do a business deal with China for fear of being charged with a death penalty crime hardly improves the case. Then there’s the epic civil disorder in Xinjiang.

The final casualty may be China’s overblown reputation for macroeconomic competence, on which so many hopes for global recovery depend. There are already signs its stimulus efforts are running off the rails. The world might appreciate a signal right now that China’s government actually knows what it’s doing.

I’d like a signal from Rudd that he also knows what he is doing. Unfortunately Rudd’s goons say that the PM is on “informal leave” or to the average Australian, taking a sickie because work is getting too much for him.