What’s wrong with Dagong?

Serene to the point of impassivity, Guan Jianzhong does not look like a James Bond villain, but he sure can sound like one. Dagong Global Credit Rating, the Chinese ratings agency he chairs, has spent the past two years baffling and amusing the world.

For some, the Beijing-based firm is a minor corporate hero, downgrading and upbraiding the west’s unchecked addiction to debt when few others dared or cared to. To others, Dagong is a joke in a novelty cracker: at best, a diversion designed to generate profit and headlines.