The Hill News

In his great small book of the early 20th century, The Temptation of the West, Andre Malraux proposed that the question of the century would be: How will the Chinese adapt to individualism? The question we might ask today as President Hu Jintao visits the United States is, how will the West adapt to the rise of China? So far, I am afraid, not very well. Western people are dreaming now of tigers and dragons. Bad dreams.

Possibly only few can make the journey across the Pacific. Kelsey Grammer’s Frasier, uncomfortable in Seattle with the Hindu waitress at the coffee shop, may long for the Irish charm and camaraderie of the “Cheers” bar in Boston. But those who will be successful in this American journey will travel the path west with him because America’s future faces across the Pacific.

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