China’s vice-premier: It’s sort of like we’re married to the U.S., but not, you know . . . in a gay

Among the ranks of China's poker-faced, ancient-proverb-citing political elite, the country's vice-premier, Wang Yang, has emerged as an unlikely champion of the extended metaphor. Wang told the US Treasury secretary, Jack Lew, that the China-US relationship was like a marriage. Only not a gay one. And hopefully, nothing like Rupert Murdoch's. "In China when we say a pair of new people, we mean a newlywed couple," Wang said on Wednesday, sitting side-by-side with Lew at a high-level meeting in Washington. "Although US law does permit marriage between two men, I don't think this is what Jacob or I actually want."

According to Reuters, Lew "briefly smiled down at his notes" while members of the Chinese delegation "squirmed" at Wang's joke, an oblique reference to the US supreme court's landmark ruling in support of gay rights last month. Lew and Wang are co-chairs of the fifth China-US strategic and economic dialogue, two days of typically staid discussions between the leaders of the world's two largest economies. Both came into their positions this year. While Wang's overarching message -- that the two countries, despite their differences, must learn to get along -- has become standard in Sino-US talks, his delivery revealed an uncommon enthusiasm for bucking convention. "We cannot have a divorce the way Wendi and Rupert Murdoch just had," Wang continued. "For that, it would be too big a price to pay."

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