What to do about China? That question is troubling U.S. policymakers, as they grapple with the implications of the Middle Kingdom’s rapid economic growth. Liberals worry about China’s effect on manufacturing jobs, and conservatives suspect her ambitions. Is it necessary for Americans to regard China’s economic success and growing influence as a threat?
I thought about that question a lot during a recent trip to China. An impromptu encounter on the campus of Renmin University in Beijing, where I had the pleasure of interacting with some of the young people who will become China’s business managers and government officials in the coming decades, helped shape my own answer.