Misty, how ever you view China I believe you must view it first and foremost as a totalitarian state.
Their economy is controlled and planned and thus flawed. Chinese reaction to unplanned events and situations that do not fit their political framework are foreign and therefore open to misinterpretation.
The power elite live in a cocoon. Within this they run a vast and powerful, complex and heavily populated country via complex economic mechanisms.
They do make mistakes. Letting inflation run as it has could easily be one.
The use of monetary levers is a sign of a reaction. Squeezing the liquidity out of the banking system over a short time frame could be the sign of overreaction or even panic. Every action they take there is a reaction.
Taken with other indicators we shall soon see.
"China is managing her economy in an orderly manner." through the suppression of it's people. One big delusional mistake and the workers heaven will be a civil war.
China does panic. Ultimately it's the gun they revert to.
