China not ready to displace US as global leader

THREE days before Donald Trump's inauguration as the 45th American president on Jan 20, when he launched the United States on a protectionist course, China's leader Xi Jinping delivered a keynote address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he issued a clarion call for economic globalisation.

Whereas Mr Trump said "Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength", President Xi declared: "Pursuing protectionism is like locking oneself in a dark room. While wind and rain may be kept outside, that dark room will also block light and air."

The Trump administration is launching America on a seemingly isolationist course, abdicating responsibilities that the country had assumed and, in the proc…