Cartoon: Chinese Dragon

In this cartoon by Morten Morland from The Times, China is portrayed as a fiery dragon, defying the rest of the world. Uncle Sam (i.e., the USA) is caught up in the dragon's coils. He is waving a fan with IOU written on it (in May 2009, the US owed China $772 billion). The British bullodog is easily kept at bay with a single finger (China disregarded the UK government's pleas not to execute a British man convicted of smuggling heroin). The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is being squeezed out, while the Dalai Lama is imprisoned in the dragon's claw. A fin on the dragon's back has cut the Copenhagen climate deal in half (China was widely blamed for the failure of the summit). Around the dragon's neck hangs some bling in the form of a dollar sign and a map of Africa. The meaning is obvious: China is the most powerful country in the world and does what it wants.