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Reviewed by J.D. Mabbot, contributor
Niklas Hageback’s “The Downfall of China or CCP 3.0?” is an insightful look at inside the policies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that will decide whether it will face an impending downfall, or yet again can manage to transform itself radically and weather the storm.
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You may notice the more-than-usual number of books included this issue. With Christmas giving around the corner and the snowy winter approaching, China Insight thought these titles may provide gift ideas or just material for a “good read” in front of the fireplace.
Enjoy!
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The story of Chinese American veterans and their contributions in World War II and the path toward recognition as told by the sons/daughters/grandchildren of these veterans. This collection of writings is edited by regular China Insight contributor retired Major General William Chen.
Largely forgotten, ignored, and neither recognized nor honored, the story of these veterans has to be told so future generations can reflect upon the contributions of our WWII veterans; and to understand, appreciate, and preserve their legacies for the generations to come.
The book includes contributors from California, Oregon, Colorado, New York and Massachusetts. Chapters 1-5 should be of interest to all, while chapters 6 and 7 recognize veterans from New England and veterans whose next of kin reside in New England. Orders for the book are taken until Oct. 1, 2020.
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By Francis P. Sempa, Asian Review of Books, Jan 1, 2020
Whither China? It is perhaps the most important question on the minds of statesmen, diplomats, and scholars. French political scientist Jean-Pierre Cabestan, who teaches at Hong Kong Baptist University, attempts to supply the answer in his new book China Tomorrow: Democracy or Dictatorship?
The title of the book is a bit misleading because from the outset Cabestan contends that China will continue to be a one-party authoritarian state for the foreseeable future. China’s Communist Party has installed what Cabestan calls a “‘new authoritarian equilibrium,’ which should help with maintaining its dictatorship for a long time.” Communist ideology is still utilized by the regime, but Cabestan, like other China watchers, believes the regime’s continuing legitimacy depends much more on economic success and appeals to nationalism.
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By Elaine Dunn
In case you haven’t heard, The Chinese Heritage Foundation has commissioned San Francisco Opera for a production of “Dream of the Red Chamber,” featuring music by world-renowned Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng and an English-language libretto by the composer and Tony Award-winning Chinese-American playwright David Henry Hwang (China Insight, February 2014). The commissioned opera is planned for a fall 2016 premiere.
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Reviewed by Raymond Lum
When America first met China, China also first met America. This book covers only the American side of that encounter but it overflows with information on the early economic relations between the two nations, one brand new and the other ancient.
China’s trade with the West was long dominated by the British East India Company, a private undertaking before it was dissolved in 1874. America’s own trade with China could not commence until the lifting of England’s blockade of that trade in 1784, one year after the Treaty of Paris officially recognized American independence from the “mother country.” In that year, the tall-masted Empress of China sailed for China from the port of New York to trade for tea and silk. The trade continues today, albeit on a much different and rebalanced form.
China needed, or at least wanted, what America had in abundance or acquired en route: fur, ginseng, silver, cotton, sandalwood (used in making the incense used in temples). The America-China trade was not, however, a straight-off one. The early tall-masted American ships sailing out of Philadelphia, New York and Boston, carried goods that were traded along the way, with stops in Hawaii, Mauritius, the Caribbean and the Pacific Northwest, which, at that time, was not a part of the United States. Although a Chinese emperor famously declared that China was self-sufficient and neither in need of nor desirous of any foreign goods, the reality on the ground, as well as on the seas, was different.
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Reviewed by Raymond Lum
Groan.
That was my initial reaction when I was given this book to review. Groan: the pages are decorated with Chinese characters without any reason for their use or explanation of what they mean (it becomes clear late in the book). Groan: the main protagonist is named “Jasmine.” Why not Lily, or Mei-Mei or any of the other stereotypical Chinese-girl names that smell as sweet as Rose? Chinese and Chinese-American girls do have other names.
But since I agreed to review it, I read it, and I am glad I did.
This is a charming, highly imaginative and inventive book that is equally well-written and well-researched. It introduces to young adult readers a largely-unknown aspect of Chinese-American history that takes off first in Nebraska. How many books are there about the Chinese in Nebraska? Probably no others. The Chinese-American experience in the Midwest is largely, albeit not totally, ignored in fiction.
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Many Americans know China for manufacturing cheap products, thanks largely to the country's vast supply of low-cost workers. However, China is changing, and the glut of cheap labor that has made everyday low prices possible is drying up as the Chinese people seek not to make iPhones, but to buy them.
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About
CHINAINSIGHT (CI) is published monthly ((except July/August and November/December are combined) by China Insight, Inc., an independent, privately owned company started in 2001 and headquartered in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.
CHINAINSIGHT is the only English-language American newspaper to focus exclusively on connections between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
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