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■"As an Asian Century Is Planned, U.S. Power Stays in the Shadows," by Seth Mydans, New York Times, 13 December 2005, p. A12.
The first East Asia summit that includes every major regional player of note, except the United States, begins now.
ASEAN's crew of little southeast Asian nations has invited Japan and India and China, and let South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, along with Russia, observe. Not exactly Mahathir's dream of a "caucus without Caucasians," now is it?
America, great "container" of China's growing military clout, is not invited.
This is what our "separate lanes" of negotiation with China gets us. Quick, someone pull the State Department's head out of its ass.
We don't need to be lecturing the Chinese or any other state opening itself up to globalization about the need for rapid embrace of democracy. We need to speak softly on that subject, and carry a big trade carrot.
Or we will find ourselves progressively shut out of an Asian Century, fools that we are.
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