Customer Reviews

The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression

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At first glance, "China Fantasy" by James Mann is just another line of a lengthy string of books since the mid-1990s ("China Dream; Coming Collapse of China; Coming Conflict with China"; etc etc) expressing Western concern about where the rapid changes in China are leading it. However, the strength of The China Fantasy is that it breaks with mainstream tradition in important ways.

Firstly, China hawks since the mid-1990s have traditionally come from the Right wing, aligned closely with neoconservatism, and driven primarily by security threat perception to an extent, in my opinion, which has always been exaggerated, but whose excesses led to the persecution of a Taiwanese American scientist toward the end of the decade (and created a fearful political climate for Chinese Americans). Others may feel that those fears were justified. Personally, it is a pleasant surprise to see a China expert who passionately opposes the Chinese government on the grounds of its human rights atrocities, and who reaches out to both political parties in the US (if anything, Mann's focus is more leftish). Mann has seized a certain moral high ground for the China hawks taken straight from the post-Tiananmen spirit.

Secondly and even more importantly, Mann presents a genuinely new idea from the perspective of the mainstream media of the past decade, an idea whose time has come: the possibility that China may continue to prosper, but fail to democratize its political system, and that the growing middle class which is seen as a force for democracy may become a force against it. With nearly twenty years having passed since Tiananmen, every day that passes which sees the repressive Chinese regime failing to change its ways further weakens the argument of those who adhere to the 'Soothing Scenario'; it is, like Mann argues, a scenario that cannot be disproven until it is too late. In addition, Mann ties liberal criticisms of globalization squarely in China policy, presenting it as the central consequence of the status quo by pointing out how wealthier 'classes' in the US and China, by use of misleading rhetoric on one hand and brute force on the other, support economic policies that benefit them at the expense of the many. This too is an important thesis that has not gotten much attention.

Although The China Fantasy mainly asks a predictive question that brings out the social scientist in the reader, this is a deliberately political tract, designed to shock or persuade the reader out of an ill-justified complacency. Thus, it should be taken with a great of salt, as I feel even Mann himself would probably agree; there are parts of the book where he as a China expert should have known where to qualify a statement but he did not (for example, in defining the Cultural Revolution as lasting from 1966-76).

My biggest criticism of this book is that Mann could have spent just a little less time going after superficial rhetoric and just a little more time supporting his main thesis: that China could continue to prosper economically without democratizing. Ironically, at one point Mann implies that people who argue that the Chinese do not want democracy have a bigoted attitude because people in almost every other country seem to want it; but Mann is arguing that the Chinese will not democratize even if they become wealthy when people in almost every other country have. By his own standards, is this not just as bigoted?

Nonetheless, Mann's prediction will prove correct if no one takes any concrete action to alter the status quo. I still believe that China will eventually democratize, but Mann reminds us of the Marxist fallacy that 'history' equals inevitability, a fallacy that many who adhere to the so-called 'Soothing Scenario' implicitly seem to have fallen into. Democracy in China will *not* happen if people, including Americans, simply play a waiting game until it magically does. Yes, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989 when no one would have predicted it two years earlier. But it may not have happened without movements like Solidarity, or Radio Free Europe, or Reagan's high-minded diplomacy at the Berlin Wall and with General Secretary Gorbachev; none of which have current parallels with China. Right or wrong in its prediction, Mann's book deserves a read.

"The China Fantasy" by James Mann succeeds in thoroughly debunking the widely-held view that capitalism will inevitably bring democracy to China. Providing a brief historical account of U.S.-Chinese relations from the Nixon administration to the present, Mr. Mann makes clear that business opportunism has driven the agenda at the expense of human rights and democracy in both countries. Mr. Mann's decades of subject matter expertise have prepared him to present a concise and persuasive work on an important topic that should be widely read and discussed by policy makers and concerned citizens alike.

Mr. Mann's specific focus is on the public relations aspect of U.S.-Chinese relations. Mr. Mann contends that a succession of business-friendly politicians have sold the American public on what he calls the 'soothing scenario', or the prospect of a democracy that will somehow emerge as a result of China's deepening economic ties with the West. Mr. Mann explains that this rubric has provided cover for high-ranking U.S. officials who have often used their connections to smooth the way for multinational corporations to set up shop in China in order to exploit its abundant supply of cheap labor. However, Mr. Mann provides a number of counter arguments explaining why the soothing scenario is a highly problematic proposition, with perhaps the most persuasive point being that democracy could allow the masses of destitute Chinese peasants to easily undo the privileges that the relatively small Chinese upper and middle classes have enjoyed under the protection of the single-party system.

Mr. Mann alerts us to the importance of demanding China to enact democratic reforms sooner rather than later, when the Chinese economy might become too strong for outside influence to have any effect. Declining U.S. wages and plant closures caused by increased competition with repressed Chinese labor is but one well-known problem; the Chinese government's support of authoritarian regimes in other countries so that it can propagandize to its domestic audience is a lesser-known but perhaps more serious issue. While one would be hard pressed to detect a political bias in Mr. Mann's writing, the implicit lesson that capitalism can be wholly congruous with governmental repression serves to rebuke free-marketeers such as Thomas Friedman and provides grist for those who may be critical of globalization.

Interestingly, Mr. Mann makes a series of short-range predictions about how the media might frame its coverage of the 2008 Olympic games to be held in China. Mr. Mann believes that on the one hand, superficial news coverage will intend to pacify Western audiences while on the other hand, nationalistic themes will serve to paper over the reality of growing inequality on the Chinese mainland. The author also suspects that China will assuage the West with hints of reform that will probably never materialize while cynically parlaying its moment in the world spotlight to attract renewed rounds of investment.

I highly recommend this timely, insightful and important book to everyone.

jim mann has written a clear-eyed analysis of american perspectives, in their various hues, on china, all of which tend to excuse beijing's record of repression and authoritarianism. while the self-interest of investors and the timidity of the american political establishment - republican and democratic both - have not only tolerated but sought to excuse chinese gross abuse of human rights and freedoms, mann's book systematically peels away the rationales, excuses, willful ignorances, and tacit acceptance of china's conduct. he also demolishes the self-delusions of many leading columnists who are burdened by a fatuous belief in the inevitability of democracy's rise in china, a belief based as much on their ignorance as their naivete about china. building on his earlier book, "about face," mann challenges american policy makers and investors (for example google and yahoo, which have acceded to demands of china's secret police for users' data and the censoring of their websites) to bring the same standards of international behavior that they demand of the rest of the world to the leadership in beijing. this is an important book.

The reviewer S. Yu has more than adequately summed up Mann's arguments in The China Fantasy, and I definitely agree that a bit more care could have been taken in framing, qualifying, and supporting the conclusions. Mann's supposition that the Chinese business class will support increased authoritarian rule, much like in Singapore, is very interesting and a refreshingly novel perspective given the traditional polarized debate over China.

However, this book definitely gets polemical at times, and my main recommendation is that the reader approach the book only after gaining or having an understanding of the China policy debates in the U.S. Otherwise, the lack of supporting evidence makes it either easy to dismiss Mann's claims or hard to ground them in consistent policy and action.

Regardless, this is an interesting essay with some important things to say about how U.S. leaders view China and their almost willful ignoring of Beijing's political suppression, if not one that has many solutions for affecting Chinese government behavior.

The premise of this rather long essay has been presented before. However, the author does a good job in illustrating the influence of small interest groups on the policy of the United States. Perhaps low cost goods from China have increased the standard of living of US citizens. In the short term this may be true; however, in the longterm it is unlikely. Short term profit interests dictate China policy. Middle Class America is hollowed out. Folks need to consider spending a bit more but consuming a bit less and have that money stay within the local ecomony. I only need three pairs of jeans and not 8 if it keeps my neighbor's children in school and healthy.

China will not modify its behavior without the outside pressure of the US consumer. The Japanese have a term for it: gaihatsu. It worked. Toyota now manufactures a large number of the cars it sells in the United States. Same principles should apply to China.

I personally buy as few Chinese manufactured products as possible (this is not easy); but at least I try.

In 'The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression,' author James Mann reminds us in no uncertain terms of the forest that has been obscured by the trees; despite three and a half decades of catch phrases ("engagement," "integration," etc.) and speech after rhetoric-filled speech on behalf of various US presidents, secretaries of state, etc. to the tune that free market reform will inexorably lead to political reform, China is still run by a ruthless Leninist clique and there is NO evidence to suggest this will change in the foreseeable future.

They say the best books tell you what you already know and perhaps that's why I enjoyed this forceful, well documented, and relentlessly logical little tome so much. Although it's easy to see that Western leaders are now kowtowing to Beijing in order maintain trade, Mann helps to fill in quite a few blanks. He points out, for example, that China analysts based in the US are often sponsored by the very corporations that need America's citizenry to believe in the "China fantasy." Mann also asks some very tough questions, such as: if China is still an autocracy in two or three decades will that a.) mean that "engagement" (or whatever they call it in the future) will have failed? And b.) Will it really be in the US's best interest to still be dealing with such a government at that time?

I thought this book was excellent, but I wish it had been a little wider in scope. Mann plots the history of China-US relations but only goes as far back as the Nixon years. I believe that America's belief that change in China is inevitable is rooted in the Roosevelt years when the country was taken in by Chiang Kai-shek's conversion to Christianity and the tireless campaign of his Macon, Georgia educated (and Christian, of course) wife Soong Mei-ling. I also think that the author should have widened the scope beyond the US. For example, in Canada, demonstrators who assembled to protest a visit by Jiang Zemin were pepper sprayed by the national police acting under direct order from the (Liberal Party) prime minister, Jean Chretian. In England, there were similar incidents when protesters had their signs unlawfully confiscated, also during a visit from Jiang. Jiang berated his hosts for not being able to control their own populace before paradoxically demanding to know whether he "looked like a dictator." Members of the British govermnet and royal family made this up to Jiang later by singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" in his honor. Perhaps the author believed that such examples (he gives many examples of American complicity and naivety) would dilute his argument, but if done well it could have reinforced it. (That said, it's solid enough.) In any case, one wonders just how far backward Western leaders and decision makers are willing to bend in order to accommodate China - not only in the US, but in all the Western world. Time will certainly tell.

Troy Parfitt, author

Mann's worry of an enduring repressive Chinese Communist Party leadership is well supported by his arguments and analysis. It is a must read for anybody with serious long-term interest in China.

My quibble is Mann's simplistic usage of the term democracy. I wish James had dived deeper into what he exactly means by "a democratic China". Even if China were embracing democracy today, it is a *tremendous* challenge to implement a democracy at China's scale and under the current somewhat fervent social conditions.

I have read over a dozen books on China recently, and Mann goes into detail on one important aspect that no one else mentions: how our own government officials are being bought out and corrupted by China. He names names and dollar figures on the many American political leaders who have left office and gone directly onto the payroll of China as 'consultants' paid to use their US govt contacts to made introductions. No wonder our government is unwilling to take action re China's hold on our Treasury Bills and economy as a strategic threat or do something about all their predatory economic practices. For example, their economic miracle is based on undercutting the prices of their competition - but China has falsely set their currency exchange rate below actual market values. We complain and do nothing. Why? Could it be because every China expert in the State department retires and becomes a consultant in the pay of China? Some famous names who now work for China as 'consultants' - Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, Clinton's national security advisor Sandy Berger, William Cohen (Clinton's defense secretary), Republican Carla Hills (the US Trade Rep), REpublican Brent Snowcroft (national security advisor to Bush senior).

Other than this very interesting insight, I found Mann is a lazy researcher and this books largely reads like a padded magazine article. He tends to make assertions without going into the facts in enough detail to make them persuasive -even when he is correct. For example, he mentions China's harmful role in international politics, but doesn't give the actual stories - that they are the suppliers of missile technology to Iran for example, and are aggressively pursuing oil stakes in the Middle East by arming every despotic regime that more responsible nations are shunning.

If the thesis of China becoming neither democractic nor falling apart interests you, there is a highly intelligent in-depth analysis called China's Trapped Transition. The Limits of Developmental Autocracy.

I like reading articles of James Mann at Los Angeles Times, and this book gives me more understanding of American policy towards China.

Recently, the mayor of Pasadena, California used almost exact words as James quoted in his book to respond to the criticism by the human rights groups for his invitation of Beijing "Olympic float" in Rose Parade 2008.

I wish that Mr. Mann could have also commented on a new wave of movement in China of denouncing Chinese communist party which was trigured by an article in Epoch Times, "Nine Commentaries on Communist Party".
This book is high recommended.

The middle-class angst over globalization (which is increasingly percieved to be a losing proposition) that politicians like Senator Jim Webb are riding into office will become a tidal wave if Mann's argument that the Chinese economy could thrive while the authoritarian political system remains largely the same bears out over time. Currently, the American public is not invited to ponder this possibility because between the doom and gloom prophets of Chinese empire or impending collapse and the utopian dreams of businessmen and politicians, no middle ground or "Third Option" can see the light of the day.
Mann manages to sketch out his thesis but fails to explore further, offering only limited detail and leading the average reader to conclusions that need to be debated and studied. Further, in describing the political ploys utilized by the utopian believers of a "just around the corner" Chinese democracy, he performs a great service but fails to follow through by offering much in the range of alternatives to bring the truth to the light of day.
In the end, an intriguing argument that awaits a better book. Best to find used or just read it in the library on a rainy day.