Conservatives in China are deeply suspicious of the bank, which they regard as an agent of failed Western liberalism.

ECONOMIST: The politics of economic reform

Despite the country's impressive economic growth and exposure to "Western liberalism" over the last two decades, women are still largely seen as objects to be exploited.

BBC: Becoming an abuse statistic in patriarchal India

In the 1990s, with the Soviet Union vanquished, it was fashionable to talk about the end of history, and the inevitable triumph of Western liberalism, both economic and political.

ECONOMIST: Leaders