Tom Watkins (Special to The Oakland Press)

    ON July 1, China — the world’s oldest continuous civilization and still the most populous nation — celebrates the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

    Surveys show that nearly 90 percent of Chinese people are optimistic about their nation and its prospects for the future.

    As the second decade of the 21st century unfolds and the Chinese dragon continues to seek to reclaim its “Mandate from Heaven,” it is imperative that we rush on multiple fronts to understand its history, culture, language and political leaders. China will certainly continue to be front and center, nudging the United States in everything that unfolds globally as we move forward.

    While China was kicked, then stumbled and fumbled during much of the mid-19th and 20th centuries, it began shaking off much of its ideological shackles in the early 1980s, opening China’s doors to the world — on China’s terms.

    Deng Xiaoping tilted China away from its socialist, ideological path towards a more pragmatic, market-based system. When Deng was questioned about this change, he responded: “I don’t care if it is a white cat or a black cat — as long as the cat can catch the mice.” Deng began the race to catch up and to this day, China has surpassed the West in many areas.

    Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had a front row seat in China’s reopening to the world. In his new book, Kissinger reminds us “China produced a greater share of total world GDP than any Western society in 18 of the last 20 centuries.”

    Consider this:

    ■ 400 million people have moved from abject poverty to the Chinese middle class;

    ■ China has become the world’s fastest growing large economy;

    ■ Many Chinese students significantly outperform U.S. students on international tests;

    ■ China is the world’s largest auto producer;

    ■ China has become a U.S. banker underwriting our debt.

    As a kid in the 1960s, I recall my mother imploring me to “eat your peas” with the admonition that “Children are starving in China.” Today, with a booming economy and owning hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars, China appears to be eating our lunch instead. China now exerts its economic and soft power strength around the world; and there exists an economic interdependence between our two countries today that continues to lift both our country’s boats while hopefully preventing military aggression.

    For nearly a quarter of a century I have crossed China, having spent nearly a lifetime trying to learn and understand it. The more I learn, the more I realize how much more I have to learn and understand.

    I DO know this: Given their rise and emergence as an economic competitor and rising military, it is critical not only for America and China, but for all humanity, that our leaders find ways to accommodate and manage the challenges ahead.

    The true strength of China, like America, resides in its people, and like us, they are a resilient, patient, strong, and patriotic people, determined to prevail.

    Our relationship in the future with China will be driven by economic and national interests, not China’s political ideology or its internal affairs.

    (This is an excerpt.)