No one can accuse the Asia Society of being over-hasty. After a mere 55 years, the influential body dedicated to strengthening ties between Asia and the United States has named an Asian to lead it - Hong Kong property tycoon Ronnie Chan Chi-chung.

Chan is chairman of Hang Lung Properties and very much interested in international affairs. In January last year, he wrote an article for the Financial Times that took the US and the West to task for their 'irresponsibility' in connection with the 2008 global financial crash and said it was time to 'rebalance' the financial system from West to East. It has been increasingly obvious that global power and influence have been shifting towards Asia. So we were surprised that he has to share his honour with a co-chair, a former US government official named Henrietta Holsman Fore. It is the first time since the society's founding in 1956 that it has divided the chairmanship in two.

The organisation says it decided on the joint chairmanship to 'reflect the rise of global interdependence and growing regional partnerships'. Pardon us if it feels as if it has given the Asian guy a bicycle with training wheels; it might be too wobbly a ride if he were put in control all by himself.