[Hermitian]

The Chinese government is going through a transition period at the moment, so much is undecided. But it is unfortunate (especially being Chinese) that the central government is becoming more conservative overtime (politically conservative, fiscally liberal). I do hope that this is just a phase rather than something persistent.

With regard to foreign policy, the US had been playing a very interesting game of hard-soft combination. Obama and the executive committee had been relatively soft on the Chinese government. At the same time, the US representatives to WTO and other trade organization had been pretty persistent. I don't know how things will turn out, but I am pretty certain that the US government will not impose sanction on China. That is a foolish move giving the trade and the status of China in the global market.

[Undulate]

"politically conservative, fiscally liberal"

Fiscal politics are still politics so this doesn't make much sense, do you mean socially conservative?

[twmb]

It appears to me that They're opening up their economy more to western influences, but they're trying to maintain control of their own party and keep everybody in line, similar to what Putin has done in Russia.

My theory is that as they open up more economically, the citizens will be "enlightened", so to speak, and there will be more protests. If China officials know this, they may be trying to stop this enlightenment before they're put out of power.