China

by Denoon, David B. H.

• ISBN13: 9780814720004
• ISBN10: 0814720005
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-05-01
• Publisher: New York Univ Pr

Summary

China's dramatic transformation over the past fifteen years has drawn its share of attention and fear from the global community and world leaders. Far from the inward-looking days of the Cultural Revolution, modern China today is the world's fourth largest economy, with a net product larger than that of France and the United Kingdom. And China's dynamism is by no means limited to its economy: enrollments in secondary and higher education are rapidly expanding, and new means of communication are vastly increasing information available to the Chinese public. In two decades, the Chinese government has also transformed its foreign relationsBeijing is now consulted on virtually every key development within the region. However, the Communist Party of China still dominates all aspects of political life. The Politburo is still self-selecting, Beijing chooses province governors, censorship is widespread, and treatment of dissidents remains harsh.InChina, leading experts provide an overview of the region, highlighting key issues as they developed in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Edited with an introduction by David B. H. Denoon, an authority on China, this volume of articles covers recent events and key issues in understanding this growing superpower. Organized into three thematic sectionsforeign policy and national security, economic policy and social issues, and domestic politics and governancethe essays cover salient topics such as China's military power, de-communization, growing economic strength, nationalism, and the possibility for democracy. The volume also contains current maps as well as a "Recent Chronology of Events" which provides a decade's worth of information on the region, organized by year and by country.Contributors: Liu Binyan, David B.H. Denoon, Bruce J. Dickson, June Teufel Dreyer, Michael Dutton, Elizabeth Economy, Barry Eichengreen, Edward Friedman, Dru C. Gladney, Paul H. B. Godwin, Merle Goldman, Richard Madsen, Barry Naughton, Lucian W. Pye, Tony Saich, David Shambaugh, Robert Sutter, Michael D. Swaine, and Tyrene White.

Table of Contents

Introduction : is China's transformation sustainable?	p. 1
Foreign policy and national security
The people's army : serving whose interests?	p. 17
Uncertainty, insecurity, and China's military power	p. 27
Does China have a grand strategy?	p. 39
Sino-American relations since September 11 : can the new stability last?	p. 51
Asia in the balance : America and China's "peaceful rise"	p. 64
Economic policy and social issues
The long march from Mao : China's de-communization	p. 77
China's north-south split and the forces of disintegration	p. 85
The dangers of economic complacency	p. 96
Rumblings from the Uyghur	p. 106
Beijing's ambivalent reformers	p. 114
China's new exchange rate regime	p. 127
Domestic politics and governance
Is democracy possible?	p. 137
The leader in the shadows : a view of Deng Xiaoping	p. 147
Village elections : democracy from the bottom up?	p. 162
An all-consuming nationalism	p. 172
Understanding Falun Gong	p. 182
China's new leadership : the challenges to the politics of muddling through	p. 192
China's environmental challenge	p. 204
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.