A few years ago it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to imagine European leaders, begging bowl in hand, turning to Beijing for a financial bail-out. Equally, few would have predicted that Chinese leaders visiting Washington would publicly berate US policymakers about their mismanagement of the world’s biggest economy. But the world has changed. The 2008 implosion of the financial system in America and Europe, and last year’s European sovereign debt crisis, have accelerated the shift of economic momentum to Asia.
幾年前,即便不是全無可能,我們也很難想像,歐洲領導人會向中國政府託鉢「化緣」,請求提供資金紓困。同樣,很少有人能夠預見到,訪問華盛頓的中國領導人會公開指責美國政策制定者對這個全球最大經濟體的管理不當。但世界已經發生了變化。2008年美國和歐洲金融體系的崩潰,以及去年的歐洲主權債務危機,加速了經濟動能向亞洲的轉移。