Chinese artist Lei Yixin is sculpting a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. that’s bound for Washington, D.C. “For China’s artists, the selection of Lei as the lead sculptor for the project, to be unveiled in 2009 on the Mall, is a triumphant moment.” But some Americans object. “By awarding the contract to a Chinese artist, the foundation financing the project has touched on sensitivities at the core of U.S.-Sino relations: nationalism, racism and worries about what China’s emergence as an economic and cultural world power means for America.”