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Title: The New Chinese Empire: And What It Means for the United States by Ross Terrill ISBN: 0-465-08412-5 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.4 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A good antidote to the myriad paeans being sung to China..
Comment: I was a little skeptical of this book's relevance to me and my work given the (somewhat misleading) subtitle of "What it means for the US". Don't pay too much attention to it. As is anyone's guess almost anything written about China is most likely relevant to everyone in business.
While most news publications choose to focus on China's Global-Sweatshop status or its enviable FDI levels in the past decade or so, a recent spate of authors have also picked up the counter-theory cudgels to dispel all such quickfooted "China is the next superpower" myths. Notable among these are Chang's best selling "The Coming Collapse of China" or Cheff's "China Dawn" that raised some interesting flags about the cracks in the Chinese scaffolding.
So the overall theme of this book is not a big seminal surprise. We have seen and heard this before -- an onerous finger being pointed squarely at China's somewhat defunct cloak-and-dagger posturing towards information control and political rule.
But where Terrill's work stands out and becomes a compelling addition to your China related stash is his fabulous coverage of the last 2000 years of Chinese history and how it relates to the nation's policies in the present. Among the symptoms that the Chinese regime is "dysfunctional in the world of nation-states" is its clinging to the ways of empire. Over the years, China has used its imperial good times to grab neighboring territories including Yunnan, Tibet and Xinjiang. During periods of weakness, Chinese strategy has tended to be "Let us bide our time, and disguise frailty as power". To awe their subjects, for instance, the mandarin emperors falsely maintained that leaders ranging from Britain's King George III to the Mughal Tamerlane were paying tribute to them.
The author contends that even today the state continues to turn weakness into strength in a similar fashion -- by convincing the world that in both business and diplomacy it needs China more than China needs the world -- thus remaining an "empire of theatre and presumption," a nation that is "deeply corrupt, politically unstable, yet extremely ambitious."
This politically charged analysis is IMHO a very refreshing perspective and although no concrete predictions about how this will/can change are forthcoming, perhaps understandably so, Terrill still offers an interesting framework for reckoning China's supposedly stellar future by laying out its imperialistic past in such excruciating but lucid detail.
A very satisfying, insightful read and an important addition to your collection if you understand that the thematic intent of this book is very specific. If you are interested in China and haven't yet read Gordon Chang, I would also recommend "The Coming Collapse of China".
Rating: 4
Summary: International Relations, China-Style
Comment: Ross Terrill sees continuity between the past and the present in China's domestic politics and international relations. The imperial system, he believes, is still the fundamental structure in which China's leaders make decisions, even in the twenty-first century, and even after more than fifty years of Communist rule.
That leaders like Mao and Deng (and even Jiang) were emperors in all but name is something of a cliché, but Terrill gives a fresh perspective to this commonly-held notion. He is well-read in China's history, and shows it here to good effect without weighing himself down with excessive scholarship. His style is light and well-suited to his approach: prove a point to the general reader's satisfaction and then move on.
By far the most interesting sections of Terrill's book are those having to do with China's world view. China has traditionally looked upon not just the rest of East Asia, but even the rest of the world as an extension of China itself. This was not so much a ruling concept as it was a pervasive ruling assumption, and it formed the basis for imperial China. When China was strong, this assumption allowed it to swallow up other areas from Tibet to Vietnam without elaborate conceptual justifications; when China was weak, the assumption was still in force through tributary relations or complex diplomatic relations that allowed Beijing to appear to have the upper hand even when it did not. Circumstances may change, but the assumption is never questioned.
Terrill draws numerous parallels between imperial China and today's new China. Beijing still seeks to punch above its weight by formalizing relationships with other countries in ways China prefers even when it cannot immediately achieve its aims (this explains why China puts such stress on its "One-China" policy with the United States). What is remarkable, he argues, is not so much that China would use this strategy as how successful it is in doing so. Other nations - whether out of excessive respect for China's culture or fear of losing access to China's market - bow down and accede to many of China's demands.
In the area of international relations, this book should be viewed as the counterpoint to "The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress: China's Search for Security." Whereas the authors of that book, Andrew Nathan and Robert Ross, view China as fundamentally conservative in its international outlook, Terrill sees it as potentially destabilizing.
Rating: 5
Summary: An excellent book that speaks the truth!
Comment: A must read for everyone who is interested in the future of the global politics. Very well and truthfully written, highly recommanded.
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Title: Beyond Tiananmen: The Politics of U.S.-China Relations by Robert L. Suettinger, Strobe Talbott ISBN: 0815782063 Publisher: The Brookings Institution Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: China's New Rulers : The Secret Files by Andrew J. Nathan, Bruce Gilley ISBN: 1590170725 Publisher: New York Review of Books Pub. Date: 10 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Modernizing China's Military : Progress, Problems, and Prospects by David Shambaugh ISBN: 0520225074 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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Title: China's New Order : Society, Politics, and Economy in Transition by Hui Wang ISBN: 0674009320 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: November, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Chiang Kai Shek : China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost by Jonathan Fenby ISBN: 0786713186 Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub. Date: 09 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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