... but state media still takes some shots at Washington

State media yesterday accused the United States of ignoring the real causes of its economic woes and faulted US President Barack Obama for 'scapegoating' Beijing with complaints about China's currency and trade policies.

A commentary by Xinhua was among the most strongly worded state-media responses to the just-concluded Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit in Honolulu, Hawaii. The piece said that people in the US who are attempting to pressure China are 'lost' and focusing their criticism in the wrong place.

'The US has long adopted an overconsumption pattern of spending next year's money,' it said. 'This, together with the international currency-reserve mechanism that uses US dollars as its sovereign currency, should be the culprit behind the imbalance of the global economy.'

A separate commentary by Xinhua said the US' focus on Chinese currency policies amounted to 'scapegoating' and said concern about the US presidential election next year provided the real motivation for the complaints.

'It should come as no surprise that the angry 'Occupy Wall Street' protesters are calling for an end to the political tricks in Washington,' Xinhua said.

The commentary said the US should get its house in order before chiding others.