Also talking up China yesterday was Bob Geldof who, erm, accuses the Chinese of being responsible for the continuing civil war in Sudan's Darfur region. He says the Chinese protect the Sudanese government because they supply 6% of China's oil.
Speaking at an event in Athens where he was receiving a humanitarian award from the Greek branch of Doctors of the World, Geldof said: "I was in Darfur 20 years ago and people were killing each other then. It's an ancient battle between nomadic people and settled people, between Arab Africans and black Africans, between Islam and Christians ... The reason why it has not been resolved is because of China. The Chinese protect the Khartoum government, who are killers, and they will not allow a vote in the Security Council ... so 250,000 people die in Darfur".
Geldof also said that crises in Africa still received too little attention. Comparing awareness of problems on the continent with the media attention given to Iraq, he continued: "Everbody is aware of Iraq. Iraq is a nightmare and many people will die before it's over. But it will pass", adding that the world's greatest political problem was actually the "continuing economic decline of a continent that is 8 miles from Europe."
Finally Geldof said that he didn't see himself being actively involved in any future Live Aid style events, explaining: "I'd be too old by the time the next one comes along".