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We all knew there was much more useless stuff and information circulating through media than the internet emails or blogs now a days.  As a researcher engaged in an ‘intelligent search engine- MWsearch’ two decades ago (www.mwsearch.com), I always value 'proactive' search (search engine trying to understand beyond your search words or phrase before searching the databases) using thesaurus, filters and comparisons. Recently I was pleasantly surprised to have found a profound story using Baidu, a Chinese search engine to look for essays on philosophies. The following short story deserves to be retold in English and shared with today's young people.
 
A serious religious young man contemplating to be a monk (priest) went to a famous 'knowledge guru' living in a temple on the top of Huang Shan*(*One of the tallest mountains in Mid-South of China famous for its scenery, sharp peaks, exotic trees and odd shape rocks hidden in the clouds or misty fog depending on the time of day and season) to ask a question that had troubled him, ‘What is the value of my life?’ The guru read the young man’s puzzled face and pondered his question, then he said to him: On this mountain, go find the nicest rock you can carry and bring to the morning market in the village below and sell it, but just raise your two fingers if anyone wants to buy it. Don’t haggle over price and don’t sell it.  Just hear the offers then bring the rock back to see me after you have received some offers. We will perhaps discuss your question.
 
The young man went to the morning market with his rock, finally near the end of the morning, an old lady asked: Young man, are you selling this nice rock, how much? He raised his two fingers. The old lady said, two dollars? The young man shaking his head raised his two fingers again. The old Lady said, twenty dollars? Well, I could use this rock to press tofu (that is how tofu is made), but I won’t pay more than $20 for it.
 
The young man didn’t sell it and brought the rock back to see the guru. The guru said, very well, you shall bring the rock to the city museum tomorrow and sell it again, but don’t haggle, don’t sell just get the highest offer and bring your rock back to see me and we will talk. The puzzled young man did what he was asked to do. He sat in front of the museum to see whether anyone will buy his rock. Lots of people going in and out of the museum and some curiously stopped to look at his rock. Then one curious gentleman asked, are you selling this old rock? How much? The young man raised his two fingers. The gentleman asked, 200 dollars? Shaking his head, the young man raised his two fingers again. Then, the gentleman said, perhaps it is worth $2000, will you sell it to me?
 
The young man did not sell his rock and went back to the guru. The guru said, very well, you got $2000 offer for your rock. I want you to bring your rock to sell it again in front of the famous Mr. Wang’s antique and auction company tomorrow. Do the same thing you did today then I will give the answer to your question when you come back.
 
The young man was wondering why a gentleman would offer him $2000 for a rock he found on the mountain, but he knew the guru’s reputation. He was anxious to get an answer from him. He followed the instruction and went to the city next day. He wore his best cloth and sat by the entrance area of the famous auction house with his rock. Many people came by carriages and cars, but they walked by him without even paying attention to him entering the antique auction company.  Then the young man heard the shouting commotion of the auction but patiently sat there.  After a few hours the auction was over, all people came out, a few with happy face but many with a disappointed face. Then a businessman noticed the young man sitting there with his rock placed over a piece of silk, he asked, this looks like a very old rock, are you selling it? The young man raised his two fingers. The businessman said, $20,000 dollars? The young man just raised his two fingers again. The businessman looked at the young man for a while then said, I should have known better, you mean $200,000 dollars, right? I will buy it if you tell me where and when did you find this old rock. The young man was shocked when he heard the $200,000 dollar offer, but he did not sell it. He wrapped the rock with the silk and rushed back to the guru while the businessman was shouting behind him: don’t go, let’s negotiate….
 
When the young man climbed back up Huang Shan, the mountain with more than ten thousand steps, and told the guru in a gasping voice that he had gotten an offer of $200,000 dollars for his rock, the guru said to him in a stern voice: “Calm down, young man!  The value of your life is just like this rock. It depends on where you place it, how people perceive it and how much you really want it to be!”        
 
This story may sound simple but it indeed contains a profound philosophical meaning. A young man or a young lady may not know the value of his or her life, but if he or she really takes an effort to think and seek an answer, the answer will be revealed by the effort. This story tells everyone that life has many opportunities, one must be patient and must make the effort to find the opportunities to realize the highest value.  Haggling does not bring the highest price.
 
This philosophical story also says anyone or anything has a value, but the true value, like beauty,  is in the eyes of the perceiver. This applies to international relations. America First or American Exceptionalism must be appreciated and perceived by others not by claiming or haggling. The U.S. was indeed perceived as exceptional, a dependable rock, during WW II, in the fifties, sixties ...perhaps even nineties, but the U.S. has changed for the worse unfortunately. The perceivers in the world have changed as well with higher value system. Today, the U.S. is facing a rapidly rising China, eagerly seeking independence Europe, a determined recovering Russia and a diligently striving Asia, South America and Africa, the U.S. must find true value in others' eyes. Does the U.S. really offer a rock of security and peace or chaos and war? Does Democracy offer a $20 dollar utility value, a $2000 museum piece or a $200,000 eccentric collector's worth? The U.S. must understand the perceivers to appreciate its rock or improve its rock to meet the changing perceivers' value system. 
 

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This paper was originally entitled, How (Americans/U.S.)/(Chinese/China) View (Chinese/China)/(Americans/U.S.) Then and Now?. It was obviously a confusing title with all the brackets and slashes in it. But if you treat the brackets and slashes as options, you essentially get sixteen simple questions in the form like: How Americans View China? The options give us sixteen important questions concerning the US-China relations. Each question deserves an essay to answer, however, the author feels that a quick and direct answer to these questions can give us lots of food for thought possibly leading to a serious discussion on issues challenging American people and government and Chinese people and government resulting in solutions to US-China conflicts. The questions and answers covering then and now (over the past century) should make the two countries and two peoples understand the change of their perception of each other - why getting worse by the day and how necessary corrections can be made? - so the two countries can get along with each other in this world for their mutual benefit and world harmony.

The sixteen questions and sample answers based on the author's studies and research are listed below to facilitate readers to do the above suggested exercise to find solutions to solve the US-China conflicts:

A1. How Americans View Chinese (People) Then and Now? Answer: Pity -> Sympathy -> Deserving Help -> Envy/Jealousy -> resentful.
A2. How Americans View China (government) Then and Now? Answer: Evil  -> Corrupt -> Helpless -> Mysterious -> Efficient.

A3. How U.S. view Chinese (people) Then and Now? Answer: Poor -> Too Many -> Cheap Labor -> Customers for US goods.
A4. How U.S. view China (government) Then and Now? Answer: Weak -> Communist -> Dishonest -> Threat -> Enemy.

A5. How Americans view American (people) Then and Now? Answer: Proud -> Exceptional -> Self Doubt - Worried for the future.
A6. How Americans view U.S. (government) Then and Now? Answer: Respect -> Patriotic -> Partisan -> Inefficient -> Incompetent -> Divisive.

A7. How U.S. views American (people) Then and Now? Answer: Domestic -> Lawful -> Problem some -> Divisive.
A8. How U.S. views Herself (government) Then and Now? Answer: World Model - > Arrogant - > Self Doubt - > Denial of Reality.

B1. How Chinese view American (people). Then and Now? Answer: Trustable White → Admirable -> Respect -> Fear/Puzzled -> Not Trustable/Discriminating.
B2. How Chinese view U.S. (government) Then and Now? Answer: Envious -> Respect -> Powerful - > Doubt -> Hypocritical.

B3. How China views American (people) Then and Now? Answer: Lovable -> Helpful/Friendly -> Ignorant -> Lazy/Selfish -> Complacent
B4. How China views U.S. (government)Then and Now? Answer: Power/Fear -> Respect -> Double Standard -> Selfish/Unilateralism -> Disrespect.

B5. How Chinese view Chinese (people)Then and Now? Answer: Sad/Helpless -> Painful - >Empathy -> Encouragement -> Self Respect -> Self Confidence.
B6. How Chinese view China (government) Then and Now? Answer: Scary -> Incompetent/Crazy -> Acceptance -> Diligence - > Appreciate/Support -> Patriotic.

B7. How China views Chinese (people) Then and Now? Answer: Ignorant Poor/Peasants -> Useful Labor -> Mighty Revolutionary Force -> Market Force and Talents -> Sacred Master of Governance.
B8. How China views Herself (government) Then and Now? Answer: Blind Faith -> Overwhelmed -> Insecurity -> Humility - Capable -> Confidence -> Assertiveness

The US-China relations is a complex issue. Its current status is a worrisome one, as we can see clearly the diplomatic relations of two countries are falling off a cliff. The U.S. is openly targeting China as an enemy, not only resorting to all tactics, trade tariff, technology sanction and media accusations (human rights etc.). The U.S. is not competing with China alone but also forming alliance militarily similar to Cold War and WW I eras leading to potential military confrontation. However, the world has changed since the last Cold War. During the Cold War, the U.S. was the superpower with her military strength and economic power greater than the targeted Soviet Union many folds. The U.S. allies were economically and militarily dependent on the U.S. With the strategy of embracing China to join the West alliance, the downfall of the Soviet Union could be expected, thus ending of the Cold War.

Today the world arena is very different in that the U.S. is no longer in a commanding position economically even militarily to conduct another Cold War against China and Russia. The fundamental reasons are as follows:

1. China’s rise was too rapid and fierce to stop, with no sign of slowing.
2. Russia is recovering from the Cold War and is leaning towards China.
3. The U.S. economy has changed form to rely on financial industry and U.S. dollar being the world dominating currency. The U.S. government is functioning on debt financing. The U.S. does not have a stable economy compared to China’s manufacturing-based economy.
4. The most critical factor is that China is not a communist country as the U.S. imagined. China embraces free economy and has become the world's leading merchandise trader and the largest importer for over twenty-five nations. The U.S. alliance strategy against China can only lead to a war with devastating outcome to the U.S. and her allies. The best outcome is the worst outcome that is the world would be destroyed by nuclear weapons.

For the above reasons, the two great nations must be realistic and rational in dealing with their relations. Thus the U.S. and China and their people must analyze the above questions carefully to understand why and how their views of each other have changed in the past century. The two countries must make corrections on their behaviors and views to re-nourish their relationship so to get along with each other in this world for mutual benefits and world harmony. We can browse the above sixteen questions and easily identify where the corrections need to be made. That is why such a Q&A exercise, seemingly simple, may be vital to restore and guide the US-China relation to a healthy course.

The first set of eight questions and their answers should make us think that jealousy and retaliation are not productive. The U.S. needs to understand the Chinese system and her success to remove mystery and gain knowledge of why the CCP is efficient, how it turns people force to productivity and how the U.S. can get benefit of China’s market size. Hostility to CCP is useless and meaningless since CCP does not export communism nor any other political beliefs. The U.S. needs to focus on internal issues such as divisiveness in people and government and inefficiency in governance. On the other hand, China needs to build her reputation as an honest trader and world leader.

The next set of Q&A tells us that the Chinese people changed from admiring Americans to being resentful caused by discrimination against them. The U.S. must understand the causes of Chinese people's perception: Is the U.S. hypocritical and performing double standard and unilateralism in her foreign policy? The U.S. needs to solve her domestic problems to energize American people to be more productive especially in basic industrial sectors. The stability of CCP hinges on its respect and fear for Chinese people’s power (of uprising). Treating citizens as a sacred master-of-governance is apparently another form of democracy (not by paper ballots but by Qi, 气 or Min Qi，民气), efficient and beneficial to Chinese citizens. Intrinsically, the Chinese people have nothing against democracy nor strong feeling for it. They do not place blind faith on a simple ballot system after seeing it fail in many countries. The Chinese people do appreciate CCP’s rigorous selection process for picking public servants, however democracy (direct voting) has its merit for CCP to adopt to gain Min Qi by polling. The world is rapidly advanced with massive and fast digital information system. An instantaneous opinion survey of the entire population (assessing  Min Qi) through a smartphone could be a very valuable and necessary mechanism for monitoring and improving governance.

With the above understanding and some sincere effort to change the perception of each other, the US-China relationship may be reset to a correct course away from rhetoric and hostile actions. Let the people of the two countries be the judge rather than let the politicians dictating the course. There is no reason that the U.S. cannot get back her image or her people being admired by the world again. Likewise, there is no reason that China cannot enjoy respect and her citizens be treated equally as anyone else in the world. A friendly US-China relation will be the anchor for a stable, harmonious and prosperous world!

Ifay Chang. Ph.D., Inventor, Author, TV Game Show Host and Columnist (www.us-chinaforum.org) as well as serving as Trustee, Somers Central School District.

Tiger symbolizes power as evidenced by the business slogan (put a tiger in your tank) trying to in-grain it in consumers brains.  Dr. Wordman wishes his readers a Happy New Year of the Tiger with the following greetings (poem): 'Tiger brings you great power  Puts wind behind your back  Do everything with your plan  Success will follow you around  or Success will be at your doorstep!'.
 
New Year symbolizes a new beginning as people and businesses making New Year resolutions and plans. The author has often done that in his younger tear to set personal goals each year. Now personal goals do not seem to be as important as bigger wishes for having a better world for our future generations, even though older folks may not be able to fulfill their wishes in their lifetime. However, this is what differentiates humans from animals and how culture and civilization can be preserved as well as advanced from generation to generation and from year to year. It is not futile for seniors to express their wishes since very often their wishes contain knowledge, experience, wisdom and love. 
 
As a column writer, I read a lot of reports from academia, think tanks and business world. I have written a year-end review on international relation issues for 2021. This column, 'New Year of Tiger and New Wishes for Business and Politics', was triggered by my reading of a McKinsey & Company report (McKinsey Analytics, January 28, 2022), entitled, 'The data-driven enterprise of 2025', which is a good piece of advice to businesses to pay attention to data and how important data is to an enterprise and how to gather, store, manage, distribute and use data for enterprise businesses. It is a natural lead-in to McKinsey consultancy for Chief Data Officers (CDO). The emergence of CDO and its importance in the business C-suite has been observable in the recent decades. The above 'somewhat self-promoting' McKinsey report is actually quite valuable to the business world and its leaders. What I have come away from reading the report is that the big data knowledge, technology and application if coupled with Artificial intelligence in an extended vision (far beyond 2025) will be extremely important for politics (of course includes businesses), specifically for democracy, for America and for the world. In the following, a brief review (with analytical comments) of the McKinsey's data-driven enterprise is given so that a data-driven democracy may be described and understood by our political community.
 
The datagence can enact political reform for the benefit of our future world – a political wish!
 
The McKinsey report focused on 2025 to imply the need and urgency of 'datagence' (the author coined the word datagence to imply the era of big data intelligence has come from datarization/computerization which was been advanced from datamation/automation earlier eras). Seven characteristics were used by McKinsey to describe a tip of datagence. One, data is needed in every decision, interaction and process (No one, including children, would argue against this point.) Two, data must be handled, processed and delivered in real-time (With fast speed computing and communication, real-time approaches nano-seconds at device level such as smartphones to within mini-seconds in communication responses.) Third, data must be flexibly stored enabling integration and ready using time series database (Utilizing time-stamped serialized data and database for decision tracking is essential for time analysis and synchronization of time-dependent data actions.) Four, data operating model can enable productization and commercialization of data to realize data value (Data value needs careful definition beyond monetized value.) Five, CDO's role includes extraction of data value and possible revenue generation (AI research on data will be important for many enterprise businesses from internal decision support to external customer services, example, AI product.) Six, Data sharing platform needed to reduce barriers for sharing and supporting a data economy (Data market demands data sharing with data security and privacy protection preventing hacking.) Seven, Data privacy and security as compliance issue will evolve to corporate competency standard (Data backup requirements will be enhanced beyond data recovery to maintain real-time integrity.)
 
The above anecdote description certainly anticipates a fast-changing business world in the future year – a business wish!
 
As we are expecting our business world to be 'datagence driven', first, we must examine how the datagence concept may deal with our social economic and political problems, such as crime, homelessness, unemployment, election fraud, government efficiency, etc. The U.S. has been the envy of the world hence taking on the world leadership role promoting democracy – her political system. But we must honestly accept that time has changed; the U.S. has shown a decline not only in economy but also in many domains to a large extent attributable to a fundamental problem – the effectiveness of the U.S. government or American democracy has not only reached its plateau but showing serious cracks. Elections produce unqualified and incompetent officials and decision-making falls in the cracks causing stalemate and obstructions. We must like our business enterprises seek innovation and apply advanced technologies to solve the problems – to find the cracks and the remedy for them.
 
There is no perfect political system. Wise politicians may find a way to work within the system to change opinions and get compromises. However, human intelligence, life time (term limit) and personal resources are all limited; under the fast and vast data world, humans and their political systems need to apply datagence (like businesses do) to make their political system work efficiently. There are three most critical political characteristics, competent elected officials, wise and correct decision and means for converging support and efficient execution; all these require datagence concept to work successfully. Within the limited space of this column, the author shall describe an imaginary system to prove the 'datagence' point. We may discuss more rigorous details later.
 
The U.S. can establish a truly independent Resolution and Election Committee (REC) responsible for educating, devising, monitoring and policing all public elections in this country using a datagence model. All legitimate voters are registered with REC and given a dedicated 'datagence enabled' smartphone (voterphone) for political use only (free for voters but with responsibilities to maintain privacy and security. Theft or misuse of voterphone is subject to criminal charge). Every citizen of voting age must vote with protest vote allowed. The voterphone provides education materials about all elections and voting processes including constitution voting rights and responsibility, candidates info, campaign info, and resolution information, voting schedule and procedure, timely public opinion survey results and most importantly time stamped voting results as well as candidate elimination criteria, etc. The voters are required to educate themselves and pass a test to use the voterphone to vote.  Time stamped multiple votes are tallied and fed back to voters until the voting passes a true threshold for democracy (say 51%) on any candidate or any issue. This process ensures true effective democracy to be achieved (galvanizing unity effect). The voters are given feedback on every voting result in real-time, all public opinions (expressed by voterphone users) and candidates responses in real-time. The votes are time-stamped based on voters previous voting action. The built-in datagence data analysis has only one purpose that is to make voters understand (get educated) and arrive at a serious and meaningful vote by learning and voting multiple times until the final passing threshold is achieved (no candidate or issue shall be passed by < 51% vote). Our political system has fallen far behind technologies. That is why we have expensive money driven unfair elections with abuses and frauds electing incompetent candidates. Datagence supported voterphone used wisely can improve our political system, voter education level, candidate qualification and competency and most importantly converging and effective voting result can be achieved to make the democracy great again.
 
This is a political wish of the New Year of Tiger!