China's Unwelcome Mat

With his first official visit to China scheduled for this week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has been at pains to ease frictions between the world's two largest trading partners. Despite its ballooning trade deficit with China and the loss of American manufacturing jobs, the U.S. remains a champion of open markets, Paulson said in a speech last Wednesday, noting: "Protectionist policies do not work and the collateral damage from these policies is high. We will not heed the siren songs of protectionism and isolationism."

China, meanwhile, was sending a very different message. The New China News...