Pitiful: Further embarrassment as one trillion euro bailout fund announced yesterday does not really exist.
Europe is holding out the begging bowl to China in an effort to keep the rescue package for the single currency alive.
In a clear sign of how the balance of world power has tipped towards the East, EU leaders hope China can be persuaded to hand over huge sums to help bail out the eurozone.
In a further embarrassment, it emerged that the one trillion euro bailout fund announced in the early hours of yesterday does not really exist.
But Chinese officials said they resented being seen as ‘just a source of dumb money’, and chillingly suggested they would insist that criticism of their economic policy is silenced in exchange for offering assistance.