While we're on the subject of things that are working better than people say, it's worth pointing out that apparently Barack Obama's trip to Asia- though a miserable failure in the "not generating stories critical of Presidential bowing" competition - seems to have been rather successful in the lesser known "winning important concessions and agreement with major world powers" stakes. James Fallows points out that following Obama's trip, China has now agreed to:
- Reduce greenhouse gases
- Criticising the Iranian weapons program
- Considering removal of weapons that threaten Taiwan
- Preparing to end the rigid currency control that has been harmful to the US
Fallows has lots more fascinating details of the trip on his blog. He concludes:
To sum it up: the Administration may or may not end up getting what it hoped for from this trip to Asia, especially China. But its members had a clearer idea of what they were after, how they could get it, and how to represent American interests and values than most coverage gave them credit for. The words that stick with me through this whole episode are those in the subtitle of Tish Durkin's piece last week: "Even through a veil of censorship and propaganda, the Chinese people managed a clearer view of Obama's visit than the US media did."
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