China in tights

On the current affairs program this morning, Honest John was discussing the way China felt about her position on the world. And on and on he went with feminine descriptive terms. I am not sure where the idea of country gender came from. Would he describe Dubya's America in the same terms? Is Australia a he or a she? What about Indonesia, given the current tensions. According to Roly Sussex, the resident language expert on ABC Adelaide, England is usually "she". Most other places are "it". It's unusual to apply "she" to something which isn't very close to us, emotionally or otherwise. Odd. Amazing how fauning Honest John is when a huge deal is on the table. Not sure that China is very emotionally close to Australia and vice versa. More like a major marriage of convenience. Remember Tianmen Square, Falun Gong... Apparently Falun Gong Protesters were banned from protesting while the Chinese President was in Perth recently. Sounds like real Ozzie values being squished by the rush not to offend. How low should we bend. We want to be sure that She is not offended.