China since Tiananmen: The Politics of Transition (Cambridge Modern China Series) [Paperback]

Joseph Fewsmith (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521001056 | ISBN-13: 978-0521001052 | Publication Date: July 30, 2001

China Since Tiananmen is the first book to evaluate the intellectual and political trends and to assess how China has changed since the Tiananmen Incident in 1989. Fewsmith looks at intellectual trends to capture the way China's elite has assessed the social, political, economic, and intellectual trends of the past decade. Similarly, he examines the conduct of elite politics to see how the political system has, and has not, evolved over the past decade. Fewsmith puts the rise of neo-conservatism and nationalism into historical context, evaluating the changes of the past decade to the changes after the May Fourth Movement of 1919. This more comprehensive and realistic assessment of the forces that drive China today is of critical importance to anyone trying to understand Sino-U.S. relations, for those relations are themselves intrinsic to the story of China's evolution. Joseph Fewsmith is Professor of International Relations at Boston University and Director of the East Asian Interdisciplinary Studies Program. He is the author of Elite Politics in Contemporary China (M.E. Sharpe, 2001) and The Dilemmas of Reform in CHina: Political Conflict and Economic Debate (M.E. Sharpe, 1994). He has written extensively on contemporary politics in China, with articles appearing in such journals as Asian Survey, Current History, The Journal of Contemporary China, Problems of Communism, Modern China, and Comparative Studies in Society and History. He is the editor of The Chinese Economy and serves on the editorial board of The Journal of Contemporary China.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The U.S. view of China remains heavily influenced by the suppression of protest there in 1989: a monolithic and ruthless Communist Party versus pro-democracy and Western-oriented intellectuals. Yet in the intervening years, shows Fewsmith, a Boston University international relations professor, things have changed and become much more complex, in the party, among intellectuals and between the two. Party conflict continues to revolve around questions of state ownership versus the free market, but there is also debate about the effects of reforms regarding regional inequality, corruption and Chinese autonomy in an increasingly globalized world. These concerns also inform intellectual debate, and while many intellectuals still hold to the need for Western-style democracy, others are not so sure. One school of thought argues that a strong state and institutional stability must be China's primary concerns. Another contends that China must find its own path to development, which includes safeguarding many of the Maoist era notions of collectivism, and must beware of U.S. attempts to control Chinese policy and even Chinese ways of thinking. A strong nationalistic streak has also emerged in much intellectual thought that at times, as during the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 2001, ties into popular nationalistic sentiments and presents a strong challenge to the party's continued efforts at economic modernization. Fewsmith's examination of the intellectual climate in China, and how the party tries to control and coopt China's intellectuals, while more for the specialist, is intellectual inquiry of the highest order and a revealing and surprising glimpse of a society deeply questioning just where it is going. (Sept. 20)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This lucid, perceptive, and balanced account of Chinese elite politics and the public debates of the 1990s demonstrates that China is now in a new stage of politics and thought. After briefly surveying the views of China watchers in the West, Fewsmith (international relations, Boston Univ.) addresses the initial critique from Party conservatives of economic reform and globalization that formed the background to the trauma of 1989. Deng Xiaoping's 1992 moves to revive economic reform then led to an openness of policy debate without precedent in Leninist systems and to new paradigms for China. Chinese intellectuals since Confucius have been more often oriented to the state than to church or business, and the 1990s saw an explosive reemergence of semiofficial think tanks, journals, and publishers with inside ties. Fewsmith gives a clear overview of the contending new theories of liberals, postmodernists, nationalists, neostatists, and neoconservatives. President and Communist Party secretary Jiang Zemin and future Chinese leaders are constrained by these new forces, especially a well-articulated popular nationalism, making Fewsmith's book important for those trying to understand China today. Highly recommended. Charles W. Hayford, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 332 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (July 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521001056
• ISBN-13: 978-0521001052
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,393,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but Overly Academic, September 29, 2011

By 

Loyd E. Eskildson "Pragmatist" (Phoenix, AZ.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: China since Tiananmen: The Politics of Transition (Cambridge Modern China Series) (Paperback)

'China Since Tiananmen' begins with the back and forth post-Tiananmen Square (TS) 1989. Deng's reform movement essentially stagnated for three years after that point until after Deng undertook his 1992 'Southern Tour,' revisiting China's original SEZ and blasting reform opponents as he went from site to site. Deng also contended that without the ten years of reform and opening up prior to TS, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would not have survived that situation; his opponents, naturally, countered that Deng's reforms created TS and would eventually bring the CCP's downfall, just as in Eastern Europe. Some opponents even called for rolling back all Deng's reforms, but most realized this would not be accepted.

Deng called on the SEZs to catch up to the 'four small dragons (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong) in 20 years.' Deng's continued criticisms, along with adding top PLA attendance and support and endorsing Zhu Rongji (former Shanghai General Secretary) for his current post as vice-premier (and potential replacement for Premier Jiang Zemin finally stirred action. The month of May saw the Central Committee endorsing 44 new SEZs, and betting behind Deng's 2000 goal for the original SEZs. In October, 1992, the Party Congress also endorsed Deng's concept of 'socialist market economic system,' replacing their prior focus on a 'socialist planned economy.' Deng also managed to have several reform opponents replaced on the Standing Committee. Finally, growth targets were also raised.

In 1994, China's inflation rate jumped to 21.7%, 44% of its State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) were losing money, and 80% of SOE income went to debt service.

Fewsmith also points out that despite Chinese youth having a very positive opinion of the U.S. during TS, this turned negative after the Gulf War, U.S. opposition to China's 2000 Olympic bid (lost by two votes), U.S. involvement supporting Taiwan and Tibet, U.S. impediments to China joining the WTO, and our constant carping about human rights, which the Chinese began seeing as a smoke-screen hiding other U.S. interests.

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-Researched Overview of Chinese Politics in the 1990s, August 18, 2009

By 

R. Silva "Rick Silva" (Cape Cod MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: China since Tiananmen: The Politics of Transition (Cambridge Modern China Series) (Paperback)

This is an in-depth look specifically at the political situation in China in the ten years following the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The book traces all of the power-players in high-level Chinese politics and attempts to analyze the reactions of the intellectual and political communities as well as the growing role of public opinion.

This was a challenging read for someone like myself, who came to it with only minimal knowledge of Chinese politics. By the end, however, I felt that Fewsmith had done an excellent job with explaining and analyzing the backgrounds and motivations of the major political power players. His descriptions of the infighting and political maneuverings kept the book interesting, and his writing was focused and well organized.

I did find occasions where I was being thrown off by terms like "leftist", "rightist", "liberal", and "conservative", which take on decidedly different meanings in the Chinese political spectrum than their more familiar applications to American politics. Some of the political science jargon can be a bit overwhelming as well.

The book is somewhat dated. By ending around the time of the incident in early involving the forced landing of a US surveillance plane following a collision with a Chinese fighter jet, the author has inadvertently left off the narrative just before the major shift on global politics that followed the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US. Thus some of Fewsmith's projections of future trends in global politics seem unrealistic in light of the events of the last eight years. But Fewsmith doesn't spend much of his narrative projecting the future. He has an excellent grasp on the delicacy and the complexity of China's relationship with other nations, particularly the US.

If you're interested in Chinese politics, or in Clinton administration foreign policy, this is definitely worth reading. It chronicles all of the major events and personalities, and it is very thoroughly sourced and annotated.

4.0 out of 5 stars a reliable source for people interested in contemporary china, January 19, 2007

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B. XU - See all my reviews
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This review is from: China since Tiananmen: The Politics of Transition (Cambridge Modern China Series) (Paperback)

the only deficiency is that he focuses too much on the top-level political struggles. it is okay for readers with general interests, but a closer view of Chinese society is absent.