West Meets East

CHIEN-MIN CHUNG for TIME

Hot Wheels: To mark Ferrari's 10th anniversary in China, a caravan of luxury cars gathers in Beijing's Tiananmen Square

It is one thing to travel hopefully to Asia; it is another to arrive there. As Jacques Chirac, the President of France, landed in Chengdu, China, last Friday night on a much-ballyhooed visit to promote trade, trade and more trade, he would have been wise to reflect on the fate of St. Francis Xavier, a brilliant teacher at the University of Paris who became a Jesuit missionary in the East. St. Francis died in 1552 on an island in the South China Sea, without ever achieving his ambition of preaching the gospel in China. Part of his arm now lies in...

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