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Comments (with the author’s response)
1. Steven Nye:
From Hitler and Mussolini in
the thirties to the kitchen debate between Khrushchev and Nixon fifty years
ago, authoritarian governments have been telling us we are history. (This
book is all about why China’s
meritocratic reform is different. But the “American innocence” is a belief
that “authoritarian dictatorship” and “democratic dictatorship” have much
difference. It really takes a lot of naivety to think Stalin’s killing in Russia is any dissimilar from Bush’s
slaughtering in Iraq.
Intelligent discussions in books like “The myth of the rational voter” and
“From voting to violence” requires too much sophistication.)
It took 98 pages to revel the
fatal flaw of the economy of China. You state a Shanghai banker spent 40,000
yuan on a watch which is what 12 farmers earn in a year. The idea you can build a stable society
on that type of inequality is highly unlikely. (So the US, with about the same level
of inequality, is not a stable society? What about 4 campus killings within
only 7 days during 2008’s Valentine’s Day?)
Every book about Chinese
growth wants to start with 1978, but no one wants to start with before the
Cultural Revolution. If that is the starting point Chinese growth is much
less impressive. China lacks a number of
ingredients to ever catch the west; land, water and oil. (China’s GDP doubles up three
times in a row within 25 years, but it’s not intended to impress anyone.
Growth is all about the institutions, not about water and oil.)
There are a number of
egregious factual errors in your book.
On page 80 you state there are 43.3 Chinese for every American and
on page 81 you calculate Chinese per capita income spending on defense is
1/77.
(should be 4.33)
I am a businessman that
specializes in the Latin American market, but I read most of the new books
on China and India
so I fully understand your societies. (Logical and realistic thinking, not
simple reading helps understand China.) I see you live in Chicago and have written a book in English, the premise
of your book would potentially be valid, if you wrote it from Shanghai and wrote it
in English. (I would have failed to see how corrupt it is in Chicago if I choose to stay in Shanghai
after I lived in Beijing and Southern China for 30 years. But again, it is not
what you read or where you live that matters. Human brain is locally
programmed, it needs a multi-culture mental model to get out of one’s
self-indulging mental jail.)
2. A review from US-China Review
Reviews:
“方绍伟先生大作《中国热潮:惊心动魄的大国崛起》中称，中国对美国的挑战不是经济或军事的挑战而是“国家制度模式”的挑战，这是非常独特和创新的视角，比亨廷顿的文明冲突论深邃得多，也比当代中国学者们的崛起论高超得多，清醒得多。”---索额图
“This is undoubtedly one of the best China books ever written during
the last 30 years. It is comprehensive, inspiring, profound, and
provocative. China Fever will
change the way we look at China
and the world and is the type of book that every personal or public library
doesn’t want to miss.”----Todd Zhou, Director and Vice President,
Association of Chinese Scientists and Engineers-USA.
"Your book will appeal to general readers and specialists
alike." ----Dali L. Yang, Professor and Chairman, Department of
Political Science, University
of Chicago.
"I am sure it will make a great contribution for promoting mutual
understanding between the U.S. and China." ----Suisheng (Sam) Zhao,
Editor of the Journal of Contemporary China, Professor and Executive
Director of Center for China-US Cooperation, Graduate School of International
Studies, University of Denver.
"China Fever is one of the best in exploring China's
recent development, a puzzle full of opportunities and challenges, not only
to the outside world, but also to the Chinese themselves."----Sanqiang
Jian, Ph.D. in Political Science, Director of Strategic Planning, HSBC North America
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