Keep an eye on the European Union's arms embargo on China. As the region digests the impact of Premier Wen Jiabao's historic speech this month to the World Economic Forum in Dalian, it is the economic impact on China's relations with a troubled Europe that has obviously snared the headlines. Wen appeared to shift the traditionally suspicious relationship into a new realm of hard-boiled quid pro quo as he offered a 'helping hand' but urged both the Europeans and the US to get their houses in order.
Just as the extent of Chinese financial support to the euro zone remains opaque, so does the political price beyond Wen's specific demands for Europe to declare China a market economy - a move that would end EU action against the dumping of subsidised Chinese products.
If there is one issue that is stubbornly raised whenever Chinese envoys meet their EU counterparts, it is the embargo on Chinese access to Europe's extensive weapons industry - a legacy of the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989. While a lifting of the ban would undoubtedly boost a rapidly modernising and expanding People's Liberation Army - even though mainland scholars note the way the long years in the cold have forced China to stand on its feet - it also carries political and diplomatic weight.
The issue flared late last year and brought the battle lines into sharp relief. A leaked document by Catherine Ashton, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, called for the EU to 'design a way forward', noting that the lifting of the embargo on all lethal weapons could 'happen very quickly'.
In Beijing, foreign ministry officials noted that the embargo had severely affected Sino-EU political trust, saying that China had long warned that it was 'completely out of sync' with the evolving strategic partnership.
The leaking of the strategic paper forced some discreet back-tracking from EU security officials amid quiet yet forcefully expressed worries from the US and Japan. There was neither a timetable nor concrete plans - or, significantly, a consensus among the EU's 27 members - officials noted.