After you swallow a fair dose of the Chinapocalypse coverage that tends to ricochet through western media it can be nice to have a little antidote. John Pomfret, the former Beijing bureau chief of the Washington Post and a long-time China correspondent, has written an opinion piece that attempts to cut through some of the common, alarmist (from a western point of view) assertions about China; economic growth, the trade deficit, scientific education gap, military buildup, etc. You may agree or disagree with them depending upon your outlook, but Pomfret makes one point that I think is absolutely valid:

So often, our perceptions of the place have more to do with how we look at ourselves than with what's actually happening over there.

I've always thought the west had a tendency to use China as a prism for its own anxieties. Nice to see I'm not the only one.

Previously:

Imagethief's review of John Pomfret's book, Chinese lessons: Five classmates and the story of the new China