Atlanta coined the catchphrase that it was the city that was “too busy to hate”. During the past 30 years, the countries of Asia have informally adopted that slogan and transferred it to a whole continent. Since the end of the 1970s, the biggest Asian nations have forgotten about fighting each other – and concentrated on the serious business of getting rich. The results have been spectacular. But there are alarming signs that east Asia’s giants are pursuing dangerous new priorities, and diverting their energy into angry nationalism and territorial disputes.
美國亞特蘭大市曾發明一句流行語,稱自己是一個「因爲太忙而顧不上仇恨」的城市。過去30年裏,亞洲國家非正式地採納了這一口號,將其應用到整個亞洲。自上世紀70年代末以來,亞洲最大的幾個國家忘記了相互打架,而是一門心思忙著致富的正事。迄今成效斐然。但有一些令人不安的跡象顯示,東亞大國正在追逐一些危險的新重點,將精力投入憤怒的民族主義和領土爭端上。