What will the dragon breathe in the years after the 2008 Summer Olympics conclude?
Will it be fresh air in the form of expanded economic reform, political change and environmental concern – or rhetorical smoke to continue justifying an overly intrusive governmental hand?

When a country has a complicated, problematic and history-burdened relationship with another nation – as China has with Japan – one would anticipate strained ties at best. Why, then, has Chinese President Hu Jintao undertaken a state visit to Tokyo?

WASHINGTON – Although I sympathize with the Tibetans here who have protested President George W. Bush’s plans to attend the Olympics’ opening ceremony in Beijing this August, the options for world leaders go well beyond the two extremes of gleeful participation in and angry avoidance of the games.
In an attempt to justify his decision, Bush [...]