Wen Jiabao, beginning his 10th and final year as China's premier, again called for political reform and warned that failure to make progress may bring about a tragedy, such as the eruption of another Cultural Revolution, which tore the country apart for a decade.

At the opening last week of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliament, a retired English professor, Wu Qing, told a Hong Kong television interviewer that the congress is described in the Chinese Constitution as “the highest organ of state power.”

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, chastened by the disclosure that he had accepted favors from Hong Kong and mainland tycoons, was on the verge of tears when he appeared last Thursday before the Legislative Council and pleaded: “No matter whether you still trust me or not, don't lose faith in Hong Kong's institutions.”

An inaugural “Friends of Syria” meeting last week, attended by representatives of more than 70 countries, called for additional economic sanctions against Syria and demanded that the regime there stop all acts of violence.

As expected, the visit to the United States by China's leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, did not result in any policy breakthroughs — he is, after all, only the crown prince and has not yet been anointed as No. 1.

Beijing's veto, along with that of Moscow, of a U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution on Syria reflects a more assertive China in contrast with an earlier period in which the Chinese would simply go along with the majority by abstaining.

More than 45 years ago, Chairman Mao Zedong launched the tumultuous Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which led to the destruction of millions of Chinese lives.

The United States has recently, and repeatedly, made clear that its new defense policy is to put greater emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region, with a view to playing a leadership role in Asia, to China's evident discomfiture.

The re-election of Ma Ying-jeou was welcomed in China and brought a collective sigh of relief in the world's capitals, with congratulations pouring into Taiwan from the United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia and Singapore.

In July 2009, China's Foreign Ministry made a demand of the American embassy: Stop making measurements of air pollution in Beijing available to ordinary Chinese since they conflicted with official data and could lead to “confusion” among the public and undesirable “social consequences.”