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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked prime minister Kevin Rudd three years ago, presumably in a reflective tone: "How do you deal toughly with your banker?"

It was widely presumed, when this conversation was revealed by Wikileaks, that this question, about US-China relations, was a rhetorical one, hinting - with schadenfreude from many commentators in Australia - that the spendthrift Yanks were skewered by righteous Chinese savings, giving them no choice but to concede ideological high ground.

But Clinton's question wasn't rhetorical. Rudd's response was: "Multilateral engagement with bilateral vigour."

The Americans have demonstrated that they won't be deflected from the latter, even by economic exigencies. And events in China are underlining the US's role...