The big news at this week’s G-8 summit in Italy has nothing to do with the global economic crisis or greenhouse gas emissions or what to do about Iran.  No, all the talk is about the last minute withdrawal of China’s President Hu Jintao who abruptly left the proceedings yesterday to return to China to deal with the deadly clashes that broke out this week in the province of Xinjiang.

Now China isn’t even one of the G-8 nations (those would be the U.S., Russia, Japan, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Canada) and was only invited to participate in second day discussions, yet Hu’s withdrawal immediately sent major ripples throughout the summit and diminished the perceived significance of the event.

The big question this week’s news raises is—Why isn’t China a member of the G-8?  Maybe it’s time for the G-8 to become the G-9 and admit China to its ranks.

Yes, China doesn’t have the greatest human rights record.  Yes, China limits the rights of its people.  Yes, it still maintains its isolationist tendencies while it tries to dominate the world.  But arguably, next to the United States, China is the global power of the 21^st century and it can’t be ignored.  How can you make serious policy decisions about issues like global warming, North Korea’s nuclear program or international trade without including China?

Think of it this way–if the U.S. under Obama is Superman, then China is Batman and it’s time Batman was invited to join the Justice League.

Like Batman, China has historically been an outsider–isolating itself from the rest of the world and creating a self-mythology of superiority and mystique.  Like Batman, China has tended to act in the shadows using somewhat sketchy methods–Batman has no issues with beating the crap out of a thug and hanging him over the top of a skyscraper if that is the only way to find out where the Penguin’s secret lair is.  And like China, Batman was initially underestimated because he had no real super abilities until he proved he was a bad ass who could take out his super powered friends through sheer ingenuity.

Doesn’t sound like a likely candidate to join a group of brightly colored, spandex-costumed superheroes (other Leaguers include the Green Lantern and Wonder Woman), except that being in the Justice League made both Batman and the group better.  Batman learned to work as part of a team and broke out of his isolationist shell while the League benefitted from his superior tactical skills.  China’s official membership in the G-8 could have similar benefits for both entities.

Finally, think of it this way–how can Canada be a part of the G-8 and not China?  Canada is the equivalent of Aquaman in the Justice League.  I’m not knocking Aquaman, hell, if I could breathe underwater and communicate telepathically with fish that would be sweet.  But he was the most useless member of the League.  The dude would die if he was out of the water for more than an hour and unless the particular threat the group was facing happened to be aquatic, all Aquaman was good for was strutting around in his orange and green wet suit and providing moral support to his colleagues (“Come on, Flash, you can run rings around Lex Luthor!”).  Canada is the Aquaman of the G-8 and if Canada is good enough for the G-8, so is China.