The pointlessness of these G meetings is underlined today by the return to China of President Hu Jintao before the G8 has even begun. The Chinese delegation was received with all honours and warmth last Sunday, discussions at head of state and government leaders' level had all taken place by yesterday, contracts signed, other levels of the Chinese delegation - the entrepreneurs and business deals people set to work with their Italian counterparts.
Bi-lateral exchanges between China and the United States are extensive, intensive and at the highest levels, as they are with Russia. It's all very well the media saying the unrest in Urumqi caused the President's return, but it doesn't ring true. It's not that much of a protest. What was left for him to do but be part of a photo opportunity in an earthquake zone, and he has the t-shirt for such occasions. Obviously after the G20 fiasco in Docklands serious people aren't going to put up with any more Brownian swaggering about to establish his self awarded rightful status and membership of a peer group. After all, they don't need to.
President Obama will pop in but he has other people to see and talk to in Italy, an important geopolitical locus for the US, which makes it worth his while. For the rest, move along, nothing to see or talk about for you here.
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