Who are the Chinese people? How do they think? What experiences have shaped their attitudes? Why should it matter to Americans?
At a time when most people in the West still believed the earth was flat, the Chinese had accurately calculated its size, charted the sky, invented the compass, and were navigating the oceans. The rest of the world was struggling to get to China, but China was already there.
We can only imagine how different life would be today if the tiny 60-foot ships of Columbus and de Gama had been confronted by massive Chinese dreadnoughts, 440-feet long and armed with cannons and rockets. Most likely, we would all be speaking Chinese, instead of wondering whether our children should be studying it.
Many Americans are unaware of how western corporations imposed the destructive opium trade on China; how-using the gunpowder and cannons invented by the Chinese-the West forced them to accept a series of humiliating treaties; or how the United States encouraged Japan to invade China, before its attack on Pearl Harbor.
At the same time, the Chinese people are deprived of the truth about the psychotic rule of Mao Zedong under which tens of millions of Chinese died from starvation, torture, and mass murder.
Under communist-capitalism, China has become the top manufacturer of consumer goods in the world. It has also become America's banker and holds billions of dollars, which it is spending to modernize its military. The United States is confronting China in an effort to "contain" its ambitions and to demonstrate American "exceptionalism." Bellicose statements in both nations could lead to war, and the time is short for reason to prevail.
Dedicated to Peace in the Pacific, An Essential History of China: Why it Matters to Americans provides critical information for both the American and Chinese people, as well as their leaders, and it prescribes an effective cure for the political illnesses suffered by both governments.
About the Author: For more than 45 years, William John Cox has written extensively on law, politics, philosophy, and the human condition. During that time, he vigorously pursued a career in law enforcement, public policy, and the law.
As a police officer, he was an early leader in the "New Breed" movement to professionalize law enforcement. Cox wrote the Policy Manual of the Los Angeles Police Department and the introductory chapters of the Police Task Force Report of the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, which continues to define the role of the police in America.
As an attorney, Cox worked for the U.S. Department of Justice to implement national standards and goals, prosecuted cases for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, and operated a public interest law practice primarily dedicated to the defense of young people.
Professionally, Cox volunteered pro bono services in several landmark legal cases. In 1979, he filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all citizens directly in the U.S. Supreme Court alleging that the government no longer represented the voters who elected it. As a remedy, Cox urged the Court to require national policy referendums to be held in conjunction with presidential elections.
In 1981, representing a Jewish survivor of Auschwitz, Cox investigated and successfully sued a group of radical right-wing organizations which denied the Holocaust. The case was the subject of the Turner Network Television motion picture, Never Forget.
Cox later represented a secret client and arranged the publication of almost 1,800 photographs of ancient manuscripts that had been kept from the public for more than 40 years. A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls was published in November 1991.
Cox concluded his legal career as a Supervising Trial Counsel for the State Bar of California. There, he led a team of attorneys and investigators which prosecuted attorneys accused of serious misconduct and criminal gangs engaged in the illegal practice of law. He retired in 2007.
Continuing to concentrate on political and social issues since his retirement, Cox has lectured, taught classes at the university level, and produced a series of articles and books. His primary initiative is the United States Voters' Rights Amendment (www.usvra.us & www.y4vra.org).
See Wikipedia for more background.
