In an interview by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times on August 8, President Barack Obama stated that China has been a "free rider" of the world order for the past 30 years.

If President Obama would state that China has hopped on the bandwagon of globalization for the past three decades, he would make sense though his remarks were not fully precise. He shall first recognize that China has caught up with the trend of globalization by relinquishing its vision of "proletarian internationalism". Then, he shall commend China's wisdom of riding the wagon, which the U.S. is proud to drive. He shall also appreciate China for its willingness to respect and contribute to the world order the U.S. has hard built.

First, by riding the wagon of contemporary international political and economic thought, China has embarked on its economic reform and ridded obsolete its "proletarian internationalism." True, there was a time when China was not a free rider of the then international system, which was dominated by Western imperialism and capitalism. China had envisioned changing such a system through exporting its own values and institutions. For quite some time America was concerned by China, which assumed its self-imposed obligation of leading a worldwide revolution.

Three decades after the People's Republic of China was founded, however, Beijing started to rethink its social and economic path, concluding to employ market economy and international cooperation. China needs a friendly international environment so as to import foreign capital, technology, management and access to external markets. Indeed, America has responded positively. In Washington's view, it is America that has allowed China to join the bandwagon. To be fair, China has certainly benefited from its economic reform and international collaboration, in which the role of the U.S. has been indispensable.

Second, the U.S. actually has no viable alternative but to welcome China's jump on the American express. With China's ending of its mission to liberate the world, Americans are sure to continue to present themselves as world's savior so they have to welcome China to return to market economy. The U.S. has pushed for a world order of free trade, and without China's participation such an order is definitely not global. Even for alleviating the Soviet threat, Washington could not afford if China would be uninterested in partnering with America.

Honestly speaking, the U.S. may have benefited no less than China from Sino-US cooperation. In terms of investment, for the recent three decades, China has permitted America's access to massive Chinese labor and consumption market, especially in allowing the U.S. to tap this inexpensive human capital. The United States' inability to stop its outsourcing is simply due to China's vast appeal. With China's middle class continued ascension, its ability to consume and import is also on the rise. Therefore, it shall not be a surprise that China will overtake America in a few years to become the number one importer of the world and the number one American export destination.