The Rising Star

When the Japanese planes flew over Pearl Harbor with death and flame, waking up confused residents on what was supposed to be a peaceful Sunday morning, the world was stunned by the improbable attack because few realized that Asia had a country powerful enough to conceive of such aggression. It is clear that several nations have emerged as global superpowers six decades after World War II in the twenty-first century, but the question of people view Asia has always been an interesting one. People have used a wide array of words and terms to describe Asia, but three stand out: newness, economic growth, and fear.

 

In particular, many use these terms to describe Asia, but are they really focused on China? It is likely that they are focused on the idea of Communism, the idea that has had considerable influence on America and Europe for almost five decades after World War II, dragging America into the Vietnam War and the Korean War. Americans suffered huge casualties over the course of these two wars against Communist forces (North Vietnam and North Korea), driven mainly by McCarthyism. As a result, most Americans held a negative view of Asia in the twentieth century.

 

Many people acknowledge Asia’s unprecedented economic growth. However, this has entailed some devastating impact on the environment. In particular, the rise of China and India have led to serious environmental problems because the need for economic development to benefit vast numbers of citizens has generally outweighed environmental concerns. Their factories and power plants have released vast amounts of greenhouse gases from the use of coal and fossil fuel, which has exacerbated climate change and even affected the air quality of the U.S. West Coast and Austria. This is caused considerable concern across the world, which has called for effective measures for pollution control.

 

A sense of newness is a major driver of people who love to travel. With news starting to focus on the rise of Asia, an increasing number of positive characteristics of Asia, such as fabulous Buddhist temples and various cuisines, have been exposed to people worldwide. As a result, people continue to flock to Asia to seek newness, and this trend is likely to persist for a long period of time.

 

The painful history of wars in the last century in Asia was due mainly to the clash between Communism, imperialism, and democracy. Recently, however, people have started to focus on the bright future of Asia, viewing the region as a place to enjoy, not fight, cultural differences. With more people having increasingly favorable attitudes toward Asia, the region is expected to be seen more as a symbol of a bright future and harmony than as a place of conflict.

 

Zou Shaoshi