Short, Sharp Answer to China’s Questions
Sometimes the best answer to a complex question is the simplest one. China in the 21st Century proves that some of the best books on China are the shortest ones (and easiest to read).
Distilling Chinese history, culture, politics, society and economics into a couple hundred pages, scholars Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Maura Cunningham cut to the core without oversimplifying. They relate ancient philosophy (Who was Confucius?) to current affairs (Why is the Communist Party bringing Confucius back?) They bring deep knowledge of Chinese history to bear in thinking through the big questions of today, such as whether President Xi Jinping truly represents a revival of imperial-style governance, as the famous
Economist cover suggested (the authors find the analogy overstated). They also pose unsettling questions about the dystopian tendencies of the current political system, which combines “hard” methods of control based on fear, á la Orwell’s 1984, with “soft” methods of control by desire, along lines imagined in Huxley’s
Brave New World. The authors look in depth at the shifting trajectories of Hong Kong and Taiwan in their mainland relations and explore many facets of Us-china relations. Asian readers will be disappointed by a lack of attention to China’s role in the region. But as a snapshot of the forces shaping modern China,
China in the 21st Century is a superb place to start.
The authors pose unsettling questions on the dystopian tendencies of the political system.