Customer Reviews

China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Inc.: The Dynamics of a New Empire

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Overall this is a good book, but it's big, chock full of facts and statistics. It helps to have some background knowledge of many of the figures involved. Still, most of the book is well written (or translated), so that the recitation of facts and statistics don't impede your reading at all.

In the first half of the book, Kemenade covers not just China, but China's relations with Taiwan and Hong Kong, and how those two `tigers' have dealt with the biggest power in the East. He certainly brings out the intractability and the inflexibility of the China's ruling elite on the matter of Taiwan's independence. And they show a shocking lack of sensitivity in order to save face - in the Qiandao incident, where close to 50 Taiwanese tourists were murdered, the mainland Chinese authorities were inhumanly hostile to the bereaved relatives, and refused to accept any responsibility at all. Actions like those that will do nothing to make the mainland endearing to the Taiwanese.

But it is also clear that the mainland authorities are capable of great patience and subtlety in their aim of achieving reunification with Taiwan. For instance, Kemenade illustrates how China has been encouraging Taiwanese businesses to invest heavily in the mainland over the past years so as to increase Taiwan's independence on the mainland. And he goes further, showing how ambivalent the Taiwanese are about business investment in China, and the measures politicians have taken to stem the flow of money to the mainland.

Kemenade deals neatly with the simmering regional/central issues on the mainland itself. He discusses in a fair amount of detail how the massive economic growth of "special economic zones" is creating centrifugal pressures on China's traditional unitary state. China may be politically centralised, but it is economically becoming a federation. He points out how in the area of tax collection, the local authorities are strong and central authorities weak; and the extent to which the local authorities - particularly in the rich provinces - are resisting tax collection by the central government.

Unfortunately, the second half of Kemenade's book is much less convincing or even interesting to read. This is very unfortunate.

Kemenade covers the economics of the Northeast of China, an area rarely discussed by modern commentators. He discusses mainly the investment of the other Asian economies, like Japan and South Korea, into the Northeast, often thought of as an industrial wasteland. The problem for me here was that the earlier chapters on Hong Kong and Taiwan were so compelling and comprehensive that this later chapter about the Northeast of China paled by comparison.

Kemenade has little to say about Russia-China relations. I got the impression that Kemenade was saying that the Chinese do not feel as threatened by the Russians as the Russians do by the Chinese. This would seem to be a result of the economic and political confidence of the Chinese. This is plausible. Unfortunately, his evidence for this point was very weak.

Given Kemenade's generally full coverage of China's domestic problems, his discussion of the Tiananmen Square massacre is surprisingly superficial. Although he gives you some of the political intrigue behind the scenes - and it is Li Peng who emerges as the real villain - he doesn't discuss in any depth the events leading up to the massacre. That's a bit disappointing.

There has been some criticism that Kemenade only deals with the `how' and not the `why' of mainland China's policies, but this seems superficial. The approach Kemenade takes is to show us by illustration, rather than spoon-feed us. His book requires you to make up your own mind. On the other hand, there is some truth in the criticism, particularly in the second half of the book, and I would have liked to have seen a little more focussed discussion.

Although there is a plethora of books on China there are few books on Taiwan and fewer still on relations between the two countries. Kemenade is to be thanked for taking up the challenge of such a daunting subject. He realizes that Taiwan can't be understood without looking at its overlarge, over-testosteroned neighbor. Kemenade excels at explaining the intricate business relationship between China and Taiwan. Despite constant worries of invasion from China, Taiwanese businessmen flock to China to make their fortune. On one hand China tries to keep Taiwan locked in a diplomatic cage, but on the other hand Taiwan is the third largest investor in China, and would probably be the second if Taiwan's government didn't actively discourage investment on the mainland. One of the few books on Chian that I have reread and will likely read again. Admittedly, not the best summary of China but what book under 1,000 pages is. Kemendae gives you the facts to make your own conclusions about what is happening in Greater China.

I bought this book around the time of the HongKong handover and just read it now. I found the author very knowledgeable about Chinese history and culture, his political and economic arguments well-reasoned. The information in the book was also very helpful in some Asian international tax and business work my group is doing. I thought it was also good that the author lives in Beijing, giving him personal knowledge, and is neither American, British, Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese or Taiwanese, thereby avoiding any slant towards or prejudices against the major players in this saga. Overall, I learned a lot and I'd like to see him follow up in a year or two on subsequent developments. This book also got me interested in the history of Shanghai, so I ordered a few books on that subject.

I picked this book up at ..., not really knowing what to expect. To my surprise, I ended up with a very detailed account of the economic and political situation in greater China (eastern continental Asia plus Japan, basically).

To begin with, this book really shows how the economic situation dominates the politics and realities of China. The incomplete transformation to a market economy where it is now legal, and even encouraged, to strive for profit is discussed throughout the book at varying levels. Keep in mind that China is still Communist - competition and striving for profit/growth is only somewhat the antithesis of Marxist theory. Reversing Mao's egalitarianism in favor of Deng's "those who can, get rich and it will trickle down" is something that has led to corruption and lack of moral guidance for most Chinese.

It also contains a good portrayal of the conflict between the gerontocracy and the younger (heh, 55-65 being young) generation more inclined to quicker and more complete economic reform. The government's ever changing policy on Confucianism, for example, illustrates the current problem the Communists are having coming up with ideology for the changing situation. This is discussed especially near the end of the book (including some nice information about new folk heroes).

The discussion on Communist theory displays some arguments that since China was never capitalist, they cannot proceed along the normal historical dialectic. I found this quite interesting. It seems the Chinese argue out of everything with paper-thin ideology, which is a recurring theme in this book - regarding relations with Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, America, just about everyone (including internal criticism of government policy).

An important topic also discussed in this book is the nature of the neonationalism present in Chinese today, as well the probable nature of China's Communism in the future. It is suggested that the Communism will evolve to where it is political repression that is the rule, but that out of necessity economic freedom will be increasingly common. This will create problems for the Communist system, even as it attempts to reform itself. The translation is well done, and the statistics are also handled well.

Oh, and for those who have been complaining about the second half of the book dealing with China's economic zones - I really found that part of the book to be the most informative. I assume most of us had very little knowledge of the northeast/xinjiang compared with our knowledge of Taiwan or Hong Kong. There was a good portrayal of Chinese racial relations with the Islamic portion to the west, and in the east with the Russians and Koreans. It was also interesting to learn more about the slow-motion invasion of the Siberia by the Chinese. This involves mass migration and illegal immigration, basically taking over towns that used to be Russian and turning the Russians into the lesser beings (as opposed to the imperialist notions circa old Shanghai), i.e. the mistreated waitresses and desperate barterers traveling to escape the economic problems in Russia itself. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the subject matter and the will to learn a great deal about internal politics and conflict, as well as the economics signified by the "Inc." in the title.

The author is a Dutch journalist for a Dutch newspaper based in Asia for twentysomething years and his book was translated into English a year later. Over 5 years ago, he wrote with a provocative title; similar to vanWolferen, an author (0-394-57796-5) who popularized the mgmt-speak: "Japan Inc," along with Business Week magazine, in the mid 1980s, when megaconglomerates (keiretsu), such as Mitsubishi and Sumitomo, were conspiring to conquer the world again, this time economically instead of militarily after WW II plus 40 years. Then later Mark Clifford wrote (1-56324-386-5) of a similar business conspiracy being duplicated with the chaebols of "Korea Inc," such as Samsung and Hyundai, after the Korean conflict (1950) plus 40 years. I found that this author has written a profound analysis on a potentially unified China (PRC+HK+TW), and interprets recent history to show the reader how China could set a similar course since the Cultural Revolution (1975) plus 40 years. Although he is a westerner who knows the native language, he appears to give a more neutral, less biased portrait of the emerging giant.

While not explicitly claimed by the author, his experience in reporting about China has started in the late 70s, first from Indonesia and then in the Chinas. This means that he observed the China ferment since the Cultural Revolution. So his writings must have included the Gang of 4 (79), the Four Modernizations (80s), Third Line Project (relo key defense industry away from the vulnerable E coast), and Deng's Reform and Opening (92). His book includes a 3-page bibliography, 18 pages of notes, and a 14-page index for further study. From his vantage point, he could eavesdrop on the whispered goings-on in the CCP and Taiwanese governments in order to validate what is eventually released to the propaganda machines.

Of the key areas in his book, Chap 3, over 30 pages are devoted in describing the westernization of Taiwan, yet he weaves in the overall strategy used by the PRC so that Taiwan will eventually return to the fold (p112). And in Chap 8, a 12-page analysis on why Taiwanese were allowed to create wholly owned factories in the Xiamen SEZ, directly across the Taiwan Straits in Fujian province, PRC. This book is great because it identifies the younger CCP lieutenants that one needs to watch as they gain experience and power. Furthermore in the 13-page Chap 13, he discusses why the greater HK / Canton / Shenzhen SEZ / Guangdong province area will be the first megalopolis that truly will embrace capitalism with Chinese characteristics. The industrial infrastructure is alive and well all united with the Cantonese dialect; the 5th ASEAN Tiger is ready to move. And finally in 15-page next to the last Chap 18, he explains the changes in politics, society, and culture that will take place during China's coming out period that will last through this decade. The author and translator have created an understandable read, one that has deciphered the seemingly conflicting news bytes that are in American press. One that makes it easier to see the forest and the trees, yet helping the reader understand the telltales so you can watch them bend as the wind blows.

Just this year, I see that Wal-Mart is selling refrigerators made by Haier, which is direct from the emerging Chinese capitalists in the PRC. This is the first consumer harbinger with a PRC brand name. This breaks the tradition of OEM contract manufacturing, first of clothing, shoes, and toys, then upscale to TVs, VCRs, and stereo gear. Now China is superceding the OEM manufacture of high tech computer components which are in-magnanimously buried underneath the "Intel inside" sticker on PC cases, which have been made in the PRC all through the 90s. The "Made in China" sticker is being flagerantly and ubiquitously waved in front of the world.

Undeniably since 2K, the march with "China Inc" has begun. After taking some lessons from history and reading van Kemanade's book, it becomes obvious in predicting the events to come. As aptly alluded to in David Sheff's new book (0-06-000599-8), the WTO gates have rang open a year ago (9/01); the modern Marco Polo shall be wise to heed the new adage, "Go east, young man, go east to China!"

Mr. van Kemenade, a journalist who has lived in mainland China for twenty years, has firsthand knowledge of Chinese history and society. He has written a detailed discussion about China's dynamic goal-oriented society, and about China's willingness to use long-term planning and almost ruthless determination to accomplish societal goals.

Mr. van Kemenade discusses how China's internal economy is increasingly controlled by centralized planning. Mr. van Kemenade also discusses China's economic relationships with Taiwan, with China's neighbors, and with the world.

China is the United States' largest trading partner. Every month our debt to China increases. This accumulating debt is a real and major transfer of wealth from the United States to China. We cannot assess the true cost until the bill comes due.

This was a book that I picked up with great expectations, not understanding the (apparently) well-known rule-of-thumb that advises against forays of this depth by long-time journalists.

Mr. Kemenade's lack of experience in China is made clear by this poor analysis of the Chinese situation. The text is filled with generalizations and simplistic analysis; the kind of drivel that you'd find on Sunday op-ed pages, not the kind of enlightening discussion of true issues the author promises. It's clear that he has little grasp of the historical foundation for China's political objectives, and time and time again passes off his own personal opinions as if they were widely accepted statements of fact.

He generalizes the behavior of many based on laughable anecdotal evidence. He has no qualms with taking public speeches as expressions of the true motivations of a politican (how's that for a scary thought). He freely relays for our (dubious) benefit personal discussions he's had with people in the "know" (woo... personal secretary to a member of the Politburo... how exciting) at the political equivalent of cocktail parties.

Frankly, that's what this book should have been reduced to... a long-winded conversation at a cocktail party where the participants have been properly lubricated. It's value as anything more is just a self-fallacy.

I recommend authors like Nathan/Ross (Great Wall & Empty Fortress, especially) for their analysis of the WHY, not authors like Kemenade, who appears to be more interested in the WHAT... without understanding that the WHAT will always be biased by your own limited personal observations.