There has been much chatter about the “G2” lately. But the idea that the US and China can together, and semi-exclusively, take on the world's biggest problems is overdone. That day may come. For the moment, though, there are limits to how much an authoritarian government presiding over a relatively poor country can contribute to global problem-solving. For now, the rise of China and the relative decline of the US is more likely to mean a multi-polar than a bipolar world.

Yet China's growing economic weight and its more assured strut on the world stage is having a definite impact regionally. A recent editorial in South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper struck an awestruck tone on the subject of “China's clout”. It described a meeting on the fringes of last month's Group of 20 summit in London in which Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, told Hu Jintao, his Chinese counterpart, that Paris would not support Tibetan independence. Almost more important than what it termed the “white flag of surrender” over Tibet was the detail that Mr Sarkozy had to travel to Mr Hu's hotel for an audience. In Asia, etiquette is everything. Even Hillary Clinton, not usually known for her reticence, was said to have been quiet on human rights, Taiwan and Tibet. The editorial offered a simple explanation: “China owns $1,400bn [€10,530bn, ￡9,320bn] of US assets.”

There is a mixed sense of pride and trepidation at the rise of an Asian superpower. Especially when it comes to smaller nations in China's penumbra, there are signs that, like client states of old, countries are pragmatically paying tribute to Beijing. Take Nguyen Tan Dung, Vietnam's prime minister. He recently spent a week touring China, having, like Mr Sarkozy, travelled for the privilege of a hearing. He brought with him gifts of Vietnamese bauxite, the main raw material for aluminium, humbly beseeching China for investments of up to $15bn in what are the world's third largest reserves of the ore. Hanoi is understandably anxious to close its $11bn trade deficit with China through mineral exports.