China and India

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

China and India:
The Economist’s latest edition has a front cover lead-in titled “The Contest of the Century, China Vs. India. The article presents a prescient view of the two most rapidly growing economic powers, their level of cooperation and their history of distrust and regional enmity between them. Since 1990 two-way trade between the nations has risen fro $270 million to more than $60 billion. Since armed skirmishes over mutually claimed border regions ceased in the 1970’s, their has been a rapprochement of mutual respect, heavily fueled by each nation’s incredible economic growth. The article identifies India as the economic marvel in human technical services and China as the manufacturing giant. Brimmed between them by the Himaylan piedmont and plateau, the nations share something as great as an ocean to lend some measure of psychological somnambulence to the strategic interest between their realms. With both countries benefitting with skyrocketing trade and a live and let live reality over disputed borderlands in nearly uninhabitable regions, the countries have moved forward with profits for India pushing it forward to a soon to be 2nd position on the international economic stage right behind China, the newest number two spot, usurping Japan, and earlier Germany’s emminent trade position. The article suggests an ambivalence toward each other lest the economic miracle of each other’s successes be upended for any past territorial rivalries or regional dominance; nevertheless, and unbeknownst to me, the view of each other remains as cagey as any two current mates are wary of each other after that one or more bad bar brawls of many years past and the enduring slights and distrustful views that can persist. The article discusses a Chinese view of India as a “dirty, third-rate sort of place”, and India’s front seat to the American military and political efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are cause for concern over international regional stability by China. The article repeatedly illustrates China’s continuing preoccupation with political insularity from shifting chaos beyond its borders. Ultimately, the issue of Asian supremacy and cooperation is an ongoing concern for both.
Kelly[Edit by="khoover on Aug 25, 10:15:26 PM"][/Edit]

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