The Asian grand master appears in my dreams yet again.

The Grand Asian Master, no more than a few thousand years old, appeared to me yet again the other night.

He does this from time to time when my frustrations with Asia go through the ceiling--and up to the stars.

He comes into my dreams and asks what it is that I want now!

But the nice thing about this occasional dream is that the Grand Asian Master always tries to wish for me what I want. So here's what I said to the Master the other night:

China and Tibet

I tell him that I dream of good karma between China and Tibet.

They must end this fighting and work together for peace and prosperity.

The Grand Master nods supportively, and asks what he could do to help. I reply: "How about you arrange for the Dalai Lama to personally carry the torch into the Olympic Stadium in Beijing at the official ceremonial opening of the Summer Games?

Japan

I imagine that a cabal of Japanese establishment heavy-hitters, plunked down on their tatami mats and doodling ideas as well as noodles, come to a major and astonishing consensus.

They agree that Japan must be more competitive image-wise with China, that Japan's political and media qualities must receive greater emphasis, and that Tokyo needs to launch a new charm offensive across Asia to steal some thunder from Beijing.

To this end, they agree that the Japanese government must put together a formal, unequivocal, even over-stated but sincere apology for all war crimes, including the rape of Nanjing.

The net effect would be to elevate the moral plane of Japan's diplomacy, and bring to end the region's corrosive and negative 'apology politics? Perhaps even the Japan-bashing would subside in return. That would be nice, too.

North Korea

I point out that Washington's new accusations that Pyongyang secretly helped Syria build a nuclear-weapon facility bode to turn back the clock on progress toward a normalization of relations between North Korea and the United States.

I'm in despair because the two sides seem to have been close to closing the deal of denuclearization in return for complete diplomatic recognition and substantial economic aid. Now the Bush administration puts on the table new "intelligence" that suggests new bad things about a regime that everyone already knew was no good.

So I say to the Master: How can we trust that this new intelligence is any better than past intelligence that claimed the late Saddam Hussein had hidden "weapons of mass destruction"?

The Master says nothing but I can tell he agrees with the negative implication.

Taiwan

During these rare nighttime drop-ins, the Master rarely speaks, conveying his thoughts and receptivity on a higher plane of understanding and communication.

Words are not really his thing. But he surprises me tonight, saying he wants to return to the first topic: China and Tibet.

"Tom, you should understand that the new government coming to office in Taiwan is quietly involved in this issue.

"No one knows it but in fact this KMT government has been playing a back channel role in the getting the Dalai Lama and Beijing together on the issue of Tibet.

"This is all going on behind the scenes. Don't be surprised if this noble effort turns out to bear peaceful fruit."

I am completely astonished by the fact that the Master has chosen to reveal this dreamy scoop to my humble self.

But I am not surprised by the content of the revelation itself.

If you live long enough--as has the Grand Asian Master, for thousands of years in fact--you come to appreciate that the world is never as simple as one might think.

Imagine Asia as, in large part, a huge Sino family that has been patching up quarrels, after all, for a few thousand years.

Could it be that Asia will somehow be able to get on without the West playing maitre'd?

Right--maybe I am dreaming!

Tom Plate, a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, teaches Asian politics and media at UCLA.