If the East Asian search for self-definition was taking place in a secure and unchanging environment, there would be less reason to worry about the sometimes ludicrous notions of a unique and benighted Pacific way. But East Asia is at a crucial moment in defining its prospects for security and stability. By setting off toward intellectual dead ends, many East Asians are avoiding frank discussion of the most distinctive features of regional security--the power of China--and they do so at their peril. One of the many risks in such myopia is that East Asians will wake up one day and find that a risen China defines their future as it did for so much of their past. There will be nothing especially "cultural" about that.