My very first blog post was entitled, "Well, Barack, We have a Problem..." This was more than seven months before he was inaugurated as President of the United States. I recommended he consider an elegant 10 percent solution for world peace, forever, after he became POTUS.
Not unexpectedly, he ignored my suggestion, so, just about the time I flew into Shanghai last month, I posted a follow-up article, "A Message to President Hu Jintao: Three Steps for China to Attain Superstar Status." Well, no big surprise, but the leader of the second most powerful country similarly passed. I was actually relieved, for what if some high authority had taken my sincere suggestions in the wrong manner and, as seems to be happening in places like Iran, arrested me for spying or fomenting rebellion. Thus, my flight from Shanghai to Zurich was a relief, for I was then free. Mind you, Google is mostly banned, CNN gets blacked out when there are issues, there is no Facebook, nor Twitter and your passport or government card (if you are a local citizen) is checked virtually everywhere you go, and placed on the computer network so they know exactly where you are.
Now in the relative political safety of Africa (I'm on my twice-a-year global journey), and, as I've almost given up on the USA to press for peace, exhibiting commendable perseverance, I offer a second chance to China, and future president Xi Jinping in particular. First, looks like you're stuck with the original petulant attitude regarding the award of that Nobel Prize to Liu Xiaobo. But you can attribute that to President Hu Jintao. Bad attitude, but such is sometimes the nature of world politics. This reaction was unfortunately expected. You can do a whole lot better in the future.
There remain two noble acts to perform:
1.A truly safe, but shocking, pronouncement, soon after you attain presidential status in 2013, is to commit your country to the edicts of the next Kyoto Protocol to check global heating, which by then should have been settled in Cancun. Of course, I can already predict that this second agreement will have all the loopholes necessary to provide another decade of wishy-washy do nothing, but the USA will still be debating the demerits of ratifying anything related to the Cancun Protocol, so your position will, on a relative scale, be statesmanlike.
2.Now, for the big one, surely to gain a Nobel Prize of your own. You have a couple of years to analyze the sanity and brilliance of the 10% solution. By 2013 the G8 nations should be augmenting this powerful world body to at least ten, and maybe a dozen. China will be invited to join. After your opening remarks at your inaugural presence, you can consider stating:
"Nearly two scores ago, the Group of Seven was originally created to lead the way towards world peace. Humanity today is faced with peak oil, global warming, a metastable economy and a range of wars that, if not immediately and effectively addressed by our Group, will result in a mega depression, compounded by environmental despair and armed warfare that will get out of control. I hereby today would like to announce that China will reduce our defense budget by 10% next year, and continue to do so annually into the foreseeable future. The funds saved will be placed in an international fund to be managed by this Group of 12, but only if every country joins China in advancing the cause of Peace and Prosperity."
That's it! Our society is headed down a dangerous path to potential doom, and you, Xi Jinping, could decisively engineer a crucial mid-course correction for the benefit of mankind. As Mikhail Gorbachev did to spark the end of the Cold War, you can set the tone for true world peace, forever.