A Sleeping Dragon Awakes....again
Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in WWII, the Japanese commander Nagumo was heard saying that Japan had awakened a Sleeping Dragon. As I watched the opening ceremonies last night for the Olympics in Beijing, I could not help but think the world's newest Sleeping Dragon was awakening from a long slumber. China has long struggled to enter the modern era. Thanks to the US, however, China is finally ready to take it's place as the world economic leader. Over the past few decades, the US has helped finance the growth of China as we've bought billions upon billions of dollars worth of goods. Now they are our greatest creditors. I got the sense that China was making a statement with these games. Hopefully, China can not only become an economic leader, but can pass through reform in Human rights and environmental issues. Without those two things, a growing China will not be healthy for the rest of the world. China's GDP has been the largest in the world for 9 of the last 10 centuries, and I'm guessing it will now be 10 of 11. What will China do, however, with a shortage of clean water, air, and oil? Everything China does from here on out will affect the world for good, or for bad.
