And yet, despite the compelling arguments in favor of working together, there is no guarantee of success. Singapore’s founder, Lee Kuan Yew, in my view, the statesman who best understands China and its evolving position in the world, last week in a speech in Washington, summed up the challenge of US-China relations this way: “China is a heavyweight. America will have to adjust its posture and policies as a consequence of this rise. Does it need to be confrontational? Usually, in history, when a new power emerges to challenge the supremacy of the incumbent, war is likely. This is no longer possible when both China and the US have nuclear armaments. It is my belief that the Chinese are in no hurry to displace the US as the number one power in the world and to carry the burden that is part and parcel of that position…To grow, China needs American markets, American investments and, with it, American technology. China also wants to send thousands of her students to American universities and research institutions to work and learn the kind of intellectual milieu that enables Americans to be so innovative and creative. At present, both [the US and China] realize that they must work at the relationship. Americans have to eventually share their pre-eminent position with China.”