As Beijing steps up, it is also jostling for leadership

FOR many years, as China grew stronger and more influential, the United States has been pressuring it to assume more global responsibilities. Ten years ago, a senior American official, Robert Zoellick, urged China to become a "responsible stakeholder", a term that perplexed the Chinese.

"China is big, it is growing," the then deputy secretary of state said. "How will China use its influence? We need to urge China to become a responsible stakeholder" in the international system.

China's response, typically, was that both it and the United States have to be responsible stakeholders. To Beijing, the important thing was to be on the same level as Washington.