Orville Schell on Olympics & China's Underlying Self-Image

Subtle, nuanced analysis of China by Orville Schell about the potential impact of the Beijing Olympics on China's underlying self-image,

and, while his analogies are bit forced, some important points by Kent in #3 & #5 of the comments section.

Seen from Singapore, Tony's point in Comment #6 about the basic upward track of China and the basic downward track on the US seem quite trenchant ...

especially the utter lack of American self-awareness in both public and, even more shockingly, elite circles about both the quality of "information" and the substance of the Chinese and American situations ...

Let's hope Orville Schell's insights will have some impact on the otherwise often ignorant comments Americans seemingly feel so free to make about China, usually without much knowledge base ...

This is not to say there aren't real problems in China, and not simply the horrific pollution and lack of quality control in manufacturing of all sorts ...

But the most important point Schell makes is the extent to which -- if the "Asian" Century is going to succeed -- China above all is going to have to take a real leadership role,

similar to what the US was like under Roosevelt / Truman / and even Eisenhower,

and UN-like the largely ignorant and self / destructive policies the US has so eagerly engaged in since the disastrous Reagan years,

which, of course, have been extended by the Bush Sr and Clinton administrations, and dwarfed by the catastrophic outrages of the Bush Jr regime ...

UPDATE:

A basically identical version of this was published as comment #33 on the article in question ...

This is gratifying not only in principle, but because -- unusually -- the comments on this piece are generally quite well-thought-out and informed on BOTH sides of the China / US relationship ...

Please do check it out ... ;-) ...