.png)
 |
| Sam Whittaker |
Tomorrow afternoon, the McConnell Scholars will fly out of Beijing and arrive home in Louisville some 14 hours later. During our time in China, we have seen both what China was and what China is. China was an ancient power. The history museums we have visited in Xi'an, Shanghai, and Beijing prove this much. All three cities boast artifacts dating back as far as 1500 B.C. The first emperors of China ruled well before the advent of Greece and Rome in the West. We toured the Great Wall, ancient temples, and saw the Terra Cotta Warriors. Clearly, China has a rich history of culture, innovation, and power.
Looking down from atop the Great Wall, one can not help but be impressed by what China used to be. However, when standing atop the Pearl Tower in Shanghai or sitting in the Olympic Stadium of Beijing, one is equally impressed with what China has become.
China has suffered through its own closing off, internal and external power struggles, Western imperialism, Civil War, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution. Yet, the people of China and the Chinese nation state stand today as one of the great powers of the modern world.
In the United States, many see a risen China as a threat. Americans may fear loss of jobs to China, the Chinese purchase of the US government's debt, or even see China as a military threat to the United States. I admit that in the past, I may have held my own suspicions regarding China. After all, China is a mystery to most Americans. Their language may seem incomprehensible, they do not have a democratic system, and a party calling itself Communist holds tightly to its power.
Yet, the China I visited is not something that Americans should fear. Rather, we should see the reasons why the United States should continue to develop better, friendlier relations with China. The Chinese economy is strong and growing rapidly (it will surpass the US in total GDP this year). This is not due to Communist economics but rather a market system very much like our own. China isn't some unrecognizable foreign place, it is ultra modern in many areas and features familiar American trademarks such as bluejeans and McDonalds. The people of China are warm and welcoming, they do not hate the United States, and we should not fear them. In fact, as an American in China, I was treated exceedingly well and saw plenty of Chinese wearing American flag patterned shoes.
What I am trying to say, in a nutshell, is that China isn't some totally different place that Americans should fear or be intimidated by. Sure, it isn't the same as the United States, but no two nations in the world are the same. If one visits China as the McConnell Scholars did, they would observe that China and the United States have much common ground. And where there is common ground, there can be increased cooperation, peace, and even friendship.
Sam Whittaker, of Paducah, Ky., is a junior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. He is studying history and political science.