Patrick Mendis

Individual identities and national destines were shaped by the tripod of history, geography, and philosophy.

Within this historic and optimistic future in mind, I have made no value judgment of the destiny bestowed on each nation. For all this, however, leadership matters; so do the institutional structures and the system of political governance.

China has no choice but to emulate the power of America__ founding ideas and its journey through the universal values of democratic freedom and individual rights.

China is constantly reinventing itself and so is the United States.

Unlike Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China, the United States was created by an enlightened band of Founding Fathers with a global vision for the new republic.

This two-track plan of nationalism and development (in China) is a historically powerful weapon.

The Chinese construction of South Asia__ tallest edifice, the Lotus (a Lotus Sutra in Buddhism) Tower, both points to Beijing__ Peaceful Rise and unsettles some onlookers. For the nervous India and the United States, the cleverly designed and highly sophisticated rising communications tower is more than a Buddhist symbol of Peaceful Rise.

Long before Christopher Columbus, the celebrated Chinese navigator Zheng He travelled through the south and westward maritime routes in the Indian Ocean and established relations with more than thirty countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

The traditional Confucian structure that invoked ideals of perfect human virtue for harmony must incorporate the rule of law for the modern era.

Democratically-oriented Jeffersonian inspiration has prevailed throughout history and certainly been more admired than capitalistic Hamiltonian-style motivations of greed and power.

President George Washington__ namesake capital, once a marketplace for slave auctions, is now synonymous with democracy and freedom; so is the iconic Jefferson, who wanted to build an __mpire of Liberty_ for the world.

Today__ China is an artifact of an extended and contentious history while the relatively young American Republic is a daring project informed by the enlightenment philosophy espoused by the Founding Fathers.

As Pacific Ocean nations, competition and cooperation between the two nations will create a new atmosphere__eading to the Birth of a __acific_ New World Order__hat is more engaging and less confrontational; this can be characterized by the presence of force without war.

The evolution of national unity and equal rights is all about what America represents as a nation today: a manifestation of the historical episodes of Jefferson and Henry as well as the Civil War, the Women__ Suffrage movement, and the Civil Rights struggles.

China seems to have skillfully adapted a Monroe Doctrine, or __énluó_ (a transliteration of the word __onroe_) Doctrine, in America__ backyard.

If American misjudgments and actions that evolved into human tragedies__.e., racism, sexism, and other bigotries__re guiding lights, the Chinese leadership must ultimately yield its power to the sovereignty of its people.

History is the archaeology of the present and future.

A convergence exists in the search for human excellence on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.