China’s rise was made in America. The ingenuity and industriousness of its people aside, China’s rapid emergence as the world’s second-largest economy was made possible by an open international economic system designed and built by the US. Now Beijing has serious cause for concern. What America makes, it may also be able to break.

The fiscal stand-off in Washington has drawn sharp words from the People’s Republic. US President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress have been told in no uncertain terms that China expects Washington to live up to its global responsibilities. Behind such words lie deep concerns. China’s growth rate has already slowed. Another shock and it could sink beyond the 6 or 7 per cent deemed necessary by the Communist party to underwrite political and social order

These are not the best of times for American power and prestige. Mr Obama’s contortions over Syria and his willingness to talk to Iran have left traditional Arab allies seething, Turkey has chosen a Chinese over an American air defence system, while Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu rails that Mr Obama is too soft on Palestinians as well as Iranians. These countries have all made plenty of their own mistakes, but it is hard to think of a time when mistrust of the US in the Middle East was quite so high.