BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Guess who telephoned Barack Obama for one of the first, if not the first, substance-packed reachout to the next U.S. head of state. It was Chinese President Hu Jintao. The conversation focused on the global economic freeze, but Hu knew how to warm up the president-elect as well as, we fervently hope, the cooling Chinese economy.
China, the buzz from Beijing suggests, needs no persuading about the seriousness of the worldwide slide, its harmful effect on China (the worldwide export king), or on China's rising role in the grand global scheme of things.
Accordingly, China's Cabinet (or State Council) is launching a two-year social-services and infrastructure spending spree to pump some life into its economy — to create jobs, stimulate demand and assuage social unrest. About which, three points must be made: