As a result, new strains are appearing in China’s relationship with the West, and were in full view at last year’s Copenhagen climate-change summit, where China – the world’s largest polluter with the fastest-growing carbon emissions – cleverly deflected pressure by hiding behind developing countries. Since then, China has added to the strains by continuing to manipulate the value of the renminbi, maintaining an abnormally high trade surplus, and restricting goods manufactured by foreign companies in China from entering the domestic market.