Written in Chinese for a Chinese audience, this New York Times op-ed piece "How China Can Defeat America", if taken to heart, could change the way global and national politics is waged. If countries led from the humane authority approach espoused in the article, support would be given through genuine love and admiration. Development aid is not given out in dollars, but in advice and case studies of how a responsible government improved the lives of its citizens. This would be a world where citizens of developed countries attempt to erase world poverty by first starting in their own slums and forgotten counties, where credit is a term bestowed from previous success, not previous debt, and where information is true, accurate and consumed because it is understood to be so.
The author, Yan Xuetong, is writing to inform future Chinese leaders of the characteristics they must adopt if they desire a global competitive advantage. It is ironic, then, that what I take from his writing was not the nervousness of a challenge or the anger of a foe but a comfort and (dare I say) hope of future that could be compassionate and robust. We all need dreams, right? Well, what a wonderful world it could be.
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