Bet the spin-doctors were poised and ready. One of the latest victims is China. Their banking system is largely insolvent, though less so than Japan's. China is in trouble because it is a strongly cheap export driven economy and many of the competing Asian currencies have devalued, putting strong pressure on China to likewise devalue to stay competitive. That this is certain seems to be a commonly held view, the only question is when, and with this event comes more hair-raising devaluations round the world.
Japan is braced for further impact.
Their economy shrunk by about 2-3 per cent last year, I believe, and predictions are for this year to see modest growth like 0.5 per cent. Government infrastructure programs aren't working. The politicos are paralyzed and don't know what to do, except to spew as much fiat yen into the system as possible. Even planned tax cuts won't help. Government debt is skyrocketing.