Pressure on the neutrality camp is mainly pointed at China, but could easily spread to the world’s silent majority. An alliance of the unwilling is needed to support the peace effort and stay out of the war.

“Asia for Asians” is a collective vision, a statement by a rising region that wants to determine its own fate, in pursuit of peace, security and economic prosperity – with no hegemonic ambitions.

While the world’s major economies are slowing down, China faces a different kind of economic problem from the US and the EU. In China, the issue is inadequate demand, which has been flattened by lockdown measures. The solution then is to wait out the zero-Covid policy.

China and many other developing countries have benefited greatly from globalisation, and the attempt by detractors to turn back the clock, in the name of ‘economic sovereignty’, is the wrong medicine for globalisation’s ills.

Black residents of the New Jersey city had reason to complain, but the violence of 1967 scared away all economic hope. Likewise, if frustrated Hongkongers continue on their current path, they will send more business fleeing to Singapore.

The dairy industry is probably the sickest industry in China. Its products are sick. Its managers cheat. The indigenous dairy industry has witnessed one scandal after another, from melamine milk to leather milk and other chemical formulations that are beyond people's imagination. The dairy industry is so sick that consumers in China have totally abandoned indigenous brands, opting for imports instead.

The fact that China National Offshore Oil Corporation's US$15.1 billion acquisition of Calgary-based Nexen went through successfully, with the required US approval, shows that direct investment capital flows from China are not always subject to political hijacking, as many on the mainland claim.