The Asian Century is Here!

HAPPY NEW YEAR readers of the Decode Blog!

It’s been four weeks already since some of us Decoders have joined a convoy to travel to Beijing, China. One of our main purposes is of course to know what is happening to China and why/how the Asian Century is unfolding.

For those who are not well acquainted with the term “Asian Century,” it has been coined by the meeting of Rajiv Gandhi and Deng Xiaoping, leaders of China and India in the 70s, predicting that in the 21^st century, the world will be dominated not by the West (U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe) but by China and India, two Asian countries with the largest populations on earth.

Of course, we Filipinos predictably have no idea of this phenomenon that is NOW sweeping the globe. Droves of Filipinos young and old are still dreaming of going out of the country to go to America to achieve that so-called “American Dream.” But here’s the thing: global power has now shifted from the West to the East, says Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy, of the National University of Singapore. And true enough when we went to Beijing, we were shocked at what we saw.

2008 is really a turning point of Asia because of two pivotal events: (1) the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics Opening which shook the world as China ushered in the most expensive of all the openings of Olympics in the entire Olympic history. It was awe-inspiring as each segment of the presentation showed the world that China is a civilization that the West has to face in this century. (2) It’s of course the current global economic crisis that began in Wall Street and is now rocking the boat for all countries who heavily depended on the West.

When three of us Decoders went to Beijing, what we saw was utterly shocking. We didn’t find a Communist country, much less a people deprived of basic human rights. We did not find people wanting to leave China. What we found were streets bustling with fashionable people buying Louis Vuitton and Versace, young people in bicycles smiling and carrying books, streets so wide and so long that you couldn’t even see the end of it, buildings so tall with large LCD screens on their outer facades, in short the pervasive feeling in the air was tremendous optimism for the future.

We were fortunate to have a knowledgeable and passionate tour guide with us, Ms. Lily, who toured us all over Beijing. The first three days (beginning December were about China. We visited the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Ming Dynasty Tombs, the Summer Palace, and the Great Wall. The second three days, we visited the humongous Dragon Airport—the largest airport terminal in the world, the Bird’s Nest Stadium, the Water Cube (National Aquatics Center), the Egg (National Opera House), and the sophisticated and large Capital Museum.

We thought China would be so affected by the economic crisis. We asked the tour guide if this was so. “No,” she said. “A small fraction of our businesses have closed down, but the main ones are still booming.” Then she went on to say, “Did you know, there are 6,000 new cars in our streets every day.” Wow.

I won’t tell you about their structures because I sure know that you guys must have read those facts somewhere. But here’s what I discovered, China is China because they did not forget who they were. One part of Tian’enmen Square was the Legation Quarter, where the tour guide said the “No Dogs and Chinese allowed” sign used to be displayed there for all the world to see. I saw how they did not forget their past, and how their optimism and pride are not founded on sheer pride alone, but on their 5000 years of history and that Asian-ness—their love for their country and their culture, that time and time again they have proven to the world that we Asians are not barbarians and primitives, we had a civilization and we can rebuild one. (Think of Zheng He predating Columbus!)

Now I discovered why they can build structures like the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. It’s like a small effort compared to the structures of their past like the Great Wall—built on mountains covered by clouds.

While we were on the bus that Thursday, one of the people in the group we were with asked, “Do you think China will be the next superpower?”

How the tour guide replied to that question shocked us.

“No, no, no. We are not a superpower. We don’t want to be one. We want China to be strong, yes, but we don’t want to have the ultimate global power. You saw the sites we’ve visited? We always have walls in our history and culture. Walls on the Forbidden City. Walls on our cities. The Great Wall. We want China to be strong, but not as the West wants itself to be strong—like colonizing other nations. We have this philosophy—the water from the well never bothers the water from the river.”

Wow. That’s Confucius right there! That is why the West can never understand the East. The West thinks that China is here to take power from them. While the West is typically individualistic in that sense, they can never understand how we Easterners value  ‘community’.

They say that real traveling is not using your legs to see new places, but looking for the secrets of a certain place with the eyes of one’s heart. I can only imagine what Marco Polo had glimpsed when he saw China in all its grandeur.

What China has taught us is a lesson that we Filipinos should never ever forget—Love of Country. And I can say this confidently, the Chinese loved their country even when 20 years ago it was the basketcase of the world. And now that China is on the rise, we Decoders are confident that as we love the Philippines—by pursuing excellence in our endeavors, we shall see it rise one day, beginning with us.

And no doubt, China will lead this century, despite the West’s denial that its time is over, because “big” is never “big” in a Chinese’s eyes unless he does it himself.

2008 is indeed a pivotal moment. We were privileged to see China as it is now.

The Asian Century is indeed here!

PS: Watch “China Rising” segments on Discovery Channel, and while you’re at it, try visiting the Asian Century Museum at 3^rd Floor of Crossroad 77 Convention Center, at Mo. Ignacia, Quezon City which reopens on January 4^th, 2009.

~Resplend3nt