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Well written and engaging book, geared towards people who have some understanding of world events and is more a sinophile than an expert on China. I have since read a couple books on China of similar scope and found that they all agree in nuance and theory, and this book is one of the more current works.
In my opinion this book covers two central themes: the evolution of trade between China and the world over the years; and how China's ethnic makeup has affected both their internal politics and security concerns with China's immediate neighbors. This is a very simplified view of the book of course. There is much discussion on Taiwan, the PLA, how China interacted with the US and Russia during the Cold War, and the theory and structure of government for example; but in my opinion these and other topics in the book serve to explain China's security through these two main themes of trade and ethnic identity.
This isn't a history book; there is not much discussion of the Revolution for example, only what is needed to describe how Taiwan became such a central issue with the US (and the world). There are at times very detailed descriptions of the back and forth diplomatic dialogues and specific treaty language revisions. But this is tempered by more concise descriptions of China's economic progression from post-WWII clear through to their entry into the WTO.
A quote towards the end sums up the book for me. A Chinese government official said, "The theory that there is one set of universal truths serves the idea of the centrality of the West. Therefore, we must emphasize and strengthen the study of the differences between the Eastern and Western cultures." This was followed by a discussion on how China promoted authoritarianism in the 1980's as a valid form of government in the region. China isn't opposed with how the West operates on the world stage so much as with how they perceive that the US unfairly dominates the world stage. It's not a question of what type of government other countries have, just that China obtain favorable conditions with those countries to trade for the China needs.
- Hardcover: 432 pages
- Publisher: Columbia University Press; First Printing edition (November 6, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0231140509
- ISBN-13: 978-0231140508
- Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.4 x 9.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Customer Reviews: 15 customer reviews
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#546,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1207 in Asian Politics
- #996 in National & International Security (Books)
- #553 in Political Freedom (Books)
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