Customer Reviews

China's Leaders

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Cheng Li has written a first-rate book on the next generation of Chinese leaders: what backgrounds they are likely to have, where they went to school, what types of qualifications they are likely to have, etc. etc. While much of the first half of the book is a rather dry academic look at educational backgrounds and statistical analysis thereof, the real meat of the book is the chapter on the key roles of mishu or secretary (chief-of-staff is a better translation) and taizi or cadre kids. It is here that Li is able to really shed some light on the nature of the Chinese style of leadership grooming and promition. Drawing on CHinese language sources increasingly available from publishing houses such as mirrorbooks.com in Hong Kong, Li does a superb job of looking closesly at the careers of Zeng Qinghong and Wen Jiabao, two leaders likely to advance at the next Party Congress in 2002. Extensive use of data tables on so-called 4th generation leaders makes the book very data rich...a must read for those wanting to analyze China's leadership in the run up to the major changes likely at the next Party Congres....

Taking the old "kremlinology" approach to figuring out Chinese politics, this book organizes each leader's factional affiliation by education, geographic location (the "Shanghai clique", etc.) and others. This approach has always been usable only as a general guide to leadership behavior, but it's all we've got. This book does it as well as any other, but a reader should know that it's not written in a narrative style, but rather in a reference format. Highly useful.

Cheng Li does an outstanding job of uncovering the relationships that propel many of China's leaders. Excellent piece of scholarship and the best book I have run across dealing with elite Chinese politics. This is a must read for any person interested in China.

I just finished reading this book, and it is truly a first rate piece of China scholarship. It is a must read book for anyone trying to understand the leadership transition currently underway in Beijing. The book is very well written, and very readable. It also is clearly based upon first rate research and analysis. The entire new generation of leadership is discussed, plus more in depth discussions of Hu Jintao, Zeng Qinghong, and Wen Jiabao. Any journalist wanting to understand Chinese politics needs to read this book.

For an academic book, "China's Leaders" is very readable; this non-academic enjoyed it on a long plane ride and left the jet feeling like some long-standing questions about China had been answered. It's one of those super-well-organized books so it's easy to skip around and find the stuff you dig: broad-based surveys, focused case studies, whatever.

AND at this point the book is recent enough to be relevant but old enough for Cheng Li to have made some predictions (note: very guarded academic predictions, of course) that have actually been borne out in the several years since publication. That, and his tone and scope, give the whole book a cagey credibility that's refreshing, especially with so many other authors running around making! crazy! predictions! about the next superpower.