By Oh Young-jin
City Editor

The United States may be forced to relinquish its mantle as the world's only superpower to China, with the world order based on Pax Americana ceasing to function soon, unless …

Some may have denied the writing on the wall but the recent visit by U.S. President Barack Obama has made it plain for everybody to see. But this is not Obama's fault. In a way, he did his best to act bravely and prudently. Alas, the inspiring leader happens to be in charge at a time when his nation's power is caught in a downward spiral. But, if there is an iota of hope, it is that Obama has more to offer.

Let's jog our collective memory of the China portion of his maiden Asian swing.

After he met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, there was a leak to the media that, without clarifying whether or not the U.S. President first brought it up, Wen had rejected the term G-2 encompassing the U.S. and China.

A fitting interpretation is that China is sure that it will overtake the United States as No. 1 in the global pecking order and does not want to share it with anybody else. More graphically, it is understandable that some would take it as a milder version of Yeltsin wagging his finger at Gorbachev at the end of the Soviet empire.

Don't forget that the Chinese call their nation "Zhongguo," meaning the nation at the center of the universe. For the better part of its long history, it had been accustomed to the role of master, with a myriad of ethnic tribes on the periphery of its vast landmass subjugated by force or cajoled out of their land by sleight of hand.

A tour given to Obama around Beijing was ― by the standard of Chinese cunning and cleverness successfully repeated throughout its long history ― an elaborate effort to make Obama a "pinup boy."

Just bring back to mind the picture of Obama walking along the Great Wall. The subliminal message was that the leader of the superpower with a 200-odd-years-"short" history was engaged in a strenuous stroll along China's biggest source of historic pride. It wouldn't be a surprise if the Chinese leadership took it as a stamp of approval it could use not just for its international audience but also to prop up its power structure when its people are brought down to earth after a dizzying vertical ride on the economic roller coaster.

Then, Obama's meeting with students in Shanghai was worthy of a long, thoughtful rumination. One interpretation is that the leader of the country that prides itself on freedom of speech was subjected to virtual censorship.

As I said, it was not the fault of Obama or his handlers because a leader often wields as much power and exactly as much respect as those of the nation he leads.

If there were any Americans who regretted the lack of tangible results the Obama trip accomplished, I recommend taking a look in the mirror.

China is the United States' biggest creditor, sitting atop a mountain of U.S.-signed IOUs and the biggest provider of daily necessities to U.S. consumers. In other words, if China tries to cash in on the T-bills, the U.S. would likely go belly up. If it stops exporting to the U.S., its people would be sent back to the cave age. For the moment, we are secure knowing that such thoughts are unrealistic.

It would not require an explanation from Paul Kennedy, author of "Rises and Falls of the Great Powers," to fathom how the U.S. has come to this stage.

The first cause was Bush's eight years of misrule. Now with Bush out of office, it would not be fair to heap blame on him for all the things gone wrong. He was right to be indignant for the 9/11 attacks and, inevitably, he became gullible, seemingly falling in line with Francis Fukuyama's theory of U.S. being the last man standing at the end of history. (Footnote: The late Akira Kurosawa would have been happier with Bruce Willis in his remake of the Samurai saga "Yojimbo" than with Fukuyama's thesis.)

Still, Bush's conduct of war morally crippled the United States. And the Wall Street debacle has done away with what was left of its political capital.

If you are still with me, I want to get back to my unfinished thought from the opening of this story.

If I threw caution to the wind, I would say that, from a third-person perspective, there is still a way out for the United States.

First, it should go back to the Rooseveltian state of mind in general and, particularly, to his call for the nation to do away with the fear of fear itself. The United States as a nation looks panicky and diffident at present. Apparently, the Chinese know it. That is why it played hard ball with Obama's visit. But I also think that China's strategy has to do with its effort to cover up its vulnerabilities. Underneath the Shanghai censorship incident is its soft underbelly that can bleed at the prick of a needle ― an incompatible symbiosis between a capitalistic economy and political dictatorship that will be tested sooner or later.

For Americans, the first thing is to overcome its fears. Go back to the basics and readopt a lifestyle of frugality and the underdog spirit.

This may prove to be a tall order for the nation that had been indulging in its own success and is now facing the bitter aftertaste ― a deep national division stemming from licentious free speech and a wealth divide aggravated by the unlimited greed of Wall Street.

It would be better than the alternative ― a disgraceful relegation into a mere blip in history as the leading power of the world, whose reign was briefer than the shortest-lived unified dynasty of ancient China.

foolsdie@koreatimes.co.kr