The definitive book on China's uneasy transformation into an economic and political superpower, and an insightful and thought-provoking analysis of daily life in China from the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists and bestselling authors of Half a Sky. "Nick Kristof's and Sheryl WuDunn's work as correspondents in China was beyond compare, and now they have written a book every bit as astonishing. China Wakes is filled with anecdote, detail, and analysis of the highest order.... This book demands reading, and yet it is a pleasure as well as an education." —David Remnick, Editor of The New Yorker Featuring 16 pages of photos
'Sinographies' examines topics like colonialism, literary modernism, translation, anime, and Tibet. As a whole, this volume imagines sinography as a new methodological approach to the study of China, one that clears ground for new kinds of comparative work.
Who will govern China at the dawn of the twenty-first century? What are the social backgrounds and career paths of the new generation of leaders? How do they differ from their predecessors in their responses to perplexing economic and sociopolitical challenges? Drawing upon a wealth of both quantitative and qualitative data on the so-called fourth generation of leaders—those who were young during the Cultural Revolution—Cheng Li sheds valuable light on these key questions. He shows that this group is more diversified than previous generations of CCP leaders in formative experiences, political solidarity, ideological conviction, and occupational background. The author explores the contradictions between political leaders and non-elite peers in the same generation—those approaching middle age who were barred from education during the Mao era and now often are unemployed and disenchanted with the government. The book concludes with the intriguing notion that this generation of leaders may have a better understanding of its peers' needs and concerns and therefore may make the regime more accountable to its people, thus contributing to, rather than opposing, democratic development.
On October 1, 2009, the People's Republic of China (PRC) celebrated the 60th anniversary of its founding. And what an eventful and tumultuous six decades it had been. During that time, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), China was transformed from one of the world's poorest countries into the world's fastest growing major economy, and from a weak state barely able to govern or protect its own territory to a rising power that is challenging the United States for global influence. Over those same years, the PRC also experienced the most deadly famine in human history, caused largely by the actions and inactions of its political leaders. Not long after, there was a collapse of government authority that pushed the country to the brink of (and in some places actually into) civil war and anarchy. Today, China is, for the most part, peaceful, prospering, and proud. This is the China that was on display for the world to see during the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The CCP maintains a firm grip on power through a combination of popular support largely based on its recent record of promoting rapid economic growth and harsh repression of political opposition. Yet, the party and country face serious challenges on many fronts, including a slowing economy, environmental desecration, pervasive corruption, extreme inequalities, and a rising tide of social protest. Politics in China is an authoritative introduction to how the world's most populous nation and rapidly rising global power is governed today. Written by leading China scholars, the book's chapters offers accessible overviews of major periods in China's modern political history from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, key topics in contemporary Chinese politics, and developments in four important areas located on China's geographic periphery: Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Despite the significant progress it had achieved in the past 60 years, especially in the past 30 years since Deng Xiaoping's reform initiatives in the late 1970s, China faces daunting challenges today. These challenges include, among others, a rigid political system that does not match economic vibrancy, uneven economic growth and widening income gap, a graying population, environmental degradation, potential social instability, ethnic tensions and separatist movement, poor international image, and military modernization. Based on papers originally presented at an international conference held at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China (PRC), this book provides an up-to-date, comprehensive, and authoritative assessment of the PRC's political, economic, social, ethnic, energy, security, military, diplomatic and other developments and challenges today. Contributed by scholars and experts in political science, international relations, economics, public administration, history, mass communication, psychology, and diplomacy, the book focuses on the efforts needed by China to grow in a sustainable manner and to become a respected global power. With each chapter addressing a different and yet an inter-related issue of the PRC's development, this book aims to make a significant contribution to the understanding of key challenges the country faces today as it strives to become a global power.
"China", Napoleon once remarked, "is a sleeping lion. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will shake the world." In 2014, President Xi Jinping triumphantly declared the lion had awakened. Under his leadership, China is pursuing a dream to restore its historical position as the dominant power in Asia. From the Mekong River Basin to the Central Asian steppe, China is flexing its economic muscles for strategic ends. By setting up new regional financial institutions, Beijing is challenging the post-World War II order established under the watchful eye of Washington. And by funding and building roads, railways, ports and power lines-a New Silk Road across Eurasia and through the South China Sea and Indian Ocean-China aims to draw its neighbours ever tighter into its embrace. Combining a geopolitical overview with on-the-ground reportage from a dozen countries, China's Asian Dream offers a fresh perspective on the rise of China' and asks: what does it means for the future of Asia?
Pt. I. Asymmetric international relationships. ch. 1. Recognition, deference, and respect : generalizing the lessons of an asymmetric Asian order. ch. 2. The United States, human rights, and moral autonomy in the post-Cold War world. ch. 3. Dissecting soft power : attention, attraction, persuasion. ch. 4. The dilemma of regional powers. ch. 5. Democratic defeatism : reconsidering the logic of asymmetric wars -- pt. II. Underpinnings of China's foreign policy. ch. 6. China between region and world. ch. 7. Traditional China and the globalization of international relations thinking. ch. 8. Sustainable international leadership : lessons from the Sino-Vietnamese relationship, 968-1885. ch. 9. China as a normative foreign policy actor. ch. 10. Asymmetry theory and China's concept of multipolarity -- pt. III. China and the United States. ch. 11. The brightest house : civilization and asymmetry. ch. 12. The reality and limits of American power. ch. 13. How size matters : the United States, China, and asymmetry. ch. 14. United States and China's rise : parity and the accommodation of civilizations -- pt. IV. China and Asia. ch. 15. Asymmetric triangles and the Washington-Beijing-Taipei relationship. ch. 16. The United States and Sino-Vietnamese relations. ch. 17. Asymmetry and systemic misperception : China, Vietnam, and Cambodia during the 1970s. ch. 18. China and Southeast Asia : asymmetry, leadership, and normalcy. ch. 19. Vietnam and China in an era of economic uncertainty. ch. 20. Korea and Vietnam : similarities and differences in their relationships to China
In 1997 journalist Karin Evans walked into an orphanage in southern China and met her new daughter, a beautiful one-year-old baby girl. In this fateful moment Evans became part of a profound, increasingly common human drama that links abandoned Chinese girls with foreigners who have traveled many miles to complete their families. At once a compelling personal narrative and an evocative portrait of contemporary China, The Lost Daughters of China has also served as an invaluable guide for thousands of readers as they navigated the process of adopting from China. However, much has changed in terms of the Chinese government?s policies on adoption since this book was originally published and in this revised and updated edition Evans addresses these developments. Also new to this edition is a riveting chapter in which she describes her return to China in 2000 to adopt her second daughter who was nearly three at the time. Many of the first girls to be adopted from China are now in the teens (China only opened its doors to adoption in the 1990s), and this edition includes accounts of their experiences growing up in the US and, in some cases, of returning to China in search of their roots. Illuminating the real-life stories behind the statistics, The Lost Daughters of China is an unforgettable account of the red thread that winds form China?s orphanages to loving families around the globe.
This title was first published in 2002. This two volume set collects in a conveniently accessible form the most influential articles by leading authorities in the study of China. It provides an international reference work, combined with an authoritative introduction by the editor.
Since 1978 in China, foreign direct investment has served as a driver of change that has brought the country into the modern economic world. Mao Zedong had shut out the foreign devilsEuropeans, Japanese, Americans and other outsiders. He created chaos in an economy that was long on suffering but short on foreign currency, technology and capital. In this detailed account, Dick K. Nanto explores how foreign companies came in tofill the gaps in Chinas economy and helped it to become a manufacturing marvel. Hefocuses on topics such as how: Industrialization has created a socialist economy with Chinese characteristics thatare reflected in industrial policy, governmental institutions, state-owned enterprises, the push to climb the high-technology ladder, indigenous innovation, and the drive to create more national champion companies. Chinese are investing abroad, entering the home turf of multinational corporationsand raising issues related to national security. Foreign enterprises are now being squeezed as Beijing seeks to replace them withcompanies of its own. Businesspeople, entrepreneurs, international business students, politicians, and anyoneinterested in how things get done in China will find engaging, informative, andcomprehensive information in Chinas Dance with the Foreign Devils.
