Panicked Markets Need a Timeout on China

On the way to remaking China's economy, President Xi Jinping has hit many roadblocks: vested interests, a change-averse Communist Party, local officials accustomed to the status quo. Who knew the real barrier would be foreign investors?

For years, the world has called on China to loosen its grip on the yuan, drop its arbitrary growth targets, allow stocks to fall, attack corruption and let reckless borrowers suffer losses. But whenever Beijing has taken any of these steps, global investors have responded with fear and trembling.