Seeing China in a changing light

MARIAN HAWK is still struggling with a Cold War mentality [“China Just Fell to the Bottom of Her List,” Letters, July 31]. The government is Communist and authoritarian, but the economy is undergoing a miraculous change and it should be seen firsthand to be believed. To sense “futility among the people” is seeing something that isn’t there.

My wife and I spent three weeks in China this April and have seen the future. The speed and sweep of change are breathtaking. We are returning for two weeks to see some of these areas before they change. I have traveled to every continent except Antarctica. This trip was the most exciting of my life.

As for the government, everyone realizes that it cannot last. It no longer fits a modern economy. I hope the change in political system will be as sudden and surprising as it was in Eastern Europe after the fall of the wall. Though he is on display at Tiananmen Square, Mao is dead and China is moving on.

MICHAEL ROSENTHAL