The bear and the euro

Wen Jibao’s comments to the BBC about the euro crisis dramatise the shift in economic power from west to east. Jibao remarked that:

“Trust is more important than currency and gold and now, during the debt crisis, we again bring trust to Europe. I have total trust in Europe’s economic development”.

But China’s role in the euro crisis is far less problematic than Russia’s. As Stratfor has highlighted, if Russia — or one of its effectively state controlled companies — were to buy a considerable stake in Greece’s gas company DEPA when it is privatised (as it will be as part of the bailout package)  it could render irrelevant the European Commission’s attempts to bring into being a gas pipeline into the European Union from the stands and the Middle East  that does not pass through Russia.  Considering that Russia has already shown itself ready to use its control of gas supplies as strategic leverage, this is a concerning development.