China and the Future

Historically, China has not been expansionist but will take what they feel is lawfully theirs, such as Taiwan. Other Asian Tigers fear China's potential as a regional hegemonic power, which I suspect originates from China's compromise on economic reform and political authoritarianism. Somehow, the PRC has either found a balance or knows it will have to move forward politically. The stability of the nation and the longevity of the CCP are at stake in this delicate balancing act. Nevertheless, China will not act irrationally but cautiously only because the country could collapse (See Lucian Pye's "The Spirit of Chinese Politics" and "The Dynamics of Chinese Politics"). If you're interested in objective scholarship on the politics of China, you can read books by Dr. Susan Shirk (UCSD), Kenneth Leiberthal (U of Michigan), Barry Naughton (UCSD), Joseph Fewersmith, Ellis Joffe, James Mulvenon, Bernard Cole, etc. They is a plenthora of scholarly books on the subject. I would only ask you be selective on your reading. I would avoid Ross & Munro and Triplett and Timberlake. The above authors are considered subject matter experts in the field who have advised Presidential Administrations and/or testified before the U.S. Congress. Good Luck - Gumby




[edit on 20-7-2004 by John bull 1]

no thanks i really dont read that much, unless its a comic book i have little understanding of chinas government. however i know that their economy is booming! china definatly has the potential to become the next US. it will fail, their overpopulation will run rampant and corruption will spread like cancer. if they actually do manage to get their act together then i believe that China would be a good allie to have since they are on the opposite side of the world making it that much easier to conquer since we would only be looking after one side.