I'm up late as usual and it's the Asian Games on telly. As expected, the dual for the medals is between the Asian Giant of today (Japan) and the Asian Giant of tomorrow (China). The Asian Games, like the Olympic Games has a pecking order and that reflects geopolitical realities.
If the Asian Games are anything to go by, China, beating the Japanese in the Asian Games is a sign that the world order of tomorrow is now here. China is the top-dog in the region and I'm actually quite greatful for this.
It's not that I'm anti-Japanese or anti-Western or particularly pro-China in my outlook of the world. I'm probably alot more Western in my outlook than most Westerners. The Chinese economic boom could be the world's biggest bubble and China is going to be gobbling up natural resources like no one's business leading to massive environmental problems. Then there's the issue of Tibet, the eternal land of destroyed hopes - think of my friend Tenzin Tsundue, who recently achieved fame for being banned from New Delhi during President Hu Jintao's visit to India.
But I look forward to China taking over as the world's largest economy. Most of the people on this planet live here and having more and more people being able to feed themselves and do so in style has to be something that's positive for the world.
Why should we accept that the USA and the West remain dominant in perpetuity? I'm not saying that the West should be obliterated, but I think Asia has reached a level of maturity where we should be able to set our own trends and develop our societies in our way, without looking to the West as a standard bearer. Since the Chinese are the only people who are capable of producing atheletes that win on the world stage, I think their accendency will show the rest of the continent that Asians are as good as the rest of the world.
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