Well, take the awareness of mainland China's drive to become a combined economic and military dominant power in, first, the northwest Pacific and then, in the world. But at the same time an awareness of how fragile the hold of China's present leadership may be on the country. And it still is. But this basically heavy authoritarian, if not outright dictatorial government has deep and abiding problems. Not the least of which came deep in the interior and far reaches of China, beyond the highly publicized coastal cities such as Shanghai and Beijing.
Japan watches warily as China rumbles with threats to Taiwan.
So do many Americans here on the U.S. West coast, far more than most of the rest of us. A reminder that we ignore the far Pacific rim at our peril. As It Should Be. In The United States. In The Heart Of Manhattan.