Rapid Fire September 18, 2012: Chinese Diplomacy

• As US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta meets with Chinese leaders to urge them to solve their differences with Japan through diplomatic channels, protests in China appear to involve a mix of underlying official support and genuine grassroots anger. Real or staged, who in their right mind would long for the good old days when Chairman Mao – whose portrait was waved by demonstrators – starved tens of millions of his countrymen to death? China needs to grow up if they want to be taken as a responsible actor.

• Panetta tells Foreign Policy that there’s still some tough fighting ahead in Afghanistan. With the suspension of joint NATO-Afghan ground operations in the wake of continued “green on blue” attacks, this sounds like a sensible warning.