With allies like those in Asia, George Bush must have been thinking on his way to Beijing on February 21st, who needs "strategic competitors"? Before arriving in China, that erstwhile competitor, for a two-day state visit, America's president had spent the earlier part of the week trying to bolster the reforming instincts of Japan's faltering prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, and then braving "frank" discussions (a diplomat's word for a fallout) with South Korea's president, Kim Dae Jung, over how to handle North Korea. It is not that there wasn't also plenty to disagree about in China, from human rights and Taiwan to missile defences and Mr Bush's determination to prevent countries such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea from developing the technologies of mass destruction. But, like many a president before him, Mr Bush is discovering that diplomacy in Asia never quite goes smoothly.
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