The China Questions: Critical Insights into a Rising Power

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The China Questions

Critical Insights into a Rising Power

Edited by: and

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2018

About this book

Many books offer information about the world’s most populous country, but few make sense of what is truly at stake. Thirty-six of the world’s leading China experts—affiliates of Harvard’s renowned Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies—answer key questions about where this new superpower is headed and what makes its people and their leaders tick.

Reviews

Sound bites about China, spoken by either the media or politicians, can fall into the trap of oversimplification. This can result in assumptions that, like the tip of an iceberg, do not reveal the myriad complexities below the surface… [The China Questions] provides a more nuanced and accessible perspective of the issues China is facing, ranging from political and economic to cultural and societal.
-- Bernice Chan South China Morning Post

This collection is impressive for its comprehensiveness, with contributors providing numerous pointed observations…This is a highly informative, readable collection for scholars and nonscholars alike.
-- Publishers Weekly

This book cuts through the cacophony of information, misinformation, and nonsense on China that circulates in our modern world to give us reliable answers to crucial questions about one of the world’s most important nations. Written by a who’s-who of experts on a variety of topics, it’s also a pleasure to read. With stylish essays on everything from elite politics to the classical Chinese novel, it should be on the shelf of anyone seeking to understand this fast-rising superpower.
-- Ian Johnson, author of The Souls of China

The China Questions is packed with erudite yet accessible commentaries on issues ranging from literature to ethnic diversity. The topical reach is impressive; readers will come away with information concerning novel ways of thinking about everything from early philosophical traditions to modern visions of utopia and dystopia, from international relations to struggles for political legitimacy.
-- Jeffrey Wasserstrom, author of China in the 21st Century

Topics

History Regional and National History Asia-Pacific

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Frontmatter
i

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Contents
vii

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Introduction
1
Michael Szonyi

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I. POLITICS
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1. Is the Chinese Communist Regime Legitimate?
11
Elizabeth J. Perry

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2. Can Fighting Corruption Save the Party?
18
Joseph Fewsmith

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3. Does Mao Still Matter?
26
Roderick MacFarquhar

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4. What Is the Source of Ethnic Tension in China?
33
Mark Elliott

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5. What Should We Know about Public Opinion in China?
43
Ya-Wen Lei

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6. What Does Longevity Mean for Leadership in China?
51
Arunabh Ghosh

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7. Can the Chinese Communist Party Learn from Chinese Emperors?
58
Yuhua Wang

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II. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
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8. Will China Lead Asia?
67
Odd Arne Westad

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9. How Strong Are China’s Armed Forces?
73
Andrew S. Erickson

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10. What Does the Rise of China Mean for the United States?
81
Robert S. Ross

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11. Is Chinese Exceptionalism Undermining China’s Foreign Policy Interests?
90
Alastair Iain Johnston

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12. (When) Will Taiwan Reunify with the Mainland?
99
Steven M. Goldstein

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13. Can China and Japan Ever Get Along?
110
Ezra F. Vogel

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III. ECONOMY
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14. Can China’s High Growth Continue?
119
Richard N. Cooper

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15. Is the Chinese Economy Headed toward a Hard Landing?
126
Dwight H. Perkins

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16. Will Urbanization Save the Chinese Economy or Destroy It?
133
Meg Rithmire

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17. Is China Keeping Its Promises on Trade?
141
Mark Wu

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18. How Do China’a New Rich Give Back?
148
Tony Saich

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19. What Can China Teach Us about Fighting Poverty?
155
Nara Dillon

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IV. ENVIRONMENT
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20. Can China Address Air Pollution And Climate Change?
165
Michael B. McElroy

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21. Is There Environmental Awareness In China?
173
Karen Thornber

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V. SOCIETY
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22. Why Does the End of the One-Child
183
Susan Greenhalgh

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23. How Are China and Its Middle Class Handling Aging and Mental Health?
191
Arthur Kleinman

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24. How Important Is Religion in China?
199
James Robson

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25. Will There Be Another Dalai Lama?
206
Leonard W. J. van der Kuijp

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26. Does Law Matter in China?
212
William P. Alford

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27. Why Do So Many Chinese Students Come to the United States?
219
William C. Kirby

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VI. HISTORY AND CULTURE
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28. Who Is Confucius in Today’s China?
231
Michael Puett

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29. Where Did the Silk Road Come From?
237
Rowan Flad

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30. Why Do Intellectuals Matter to Chinese Politics?
244
Peter K. Bol

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31. Why Do Classic Chinese Novels Matter?
252
Wai-yee Li

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32. How Have Chinese Writers Imagined China’s Future?
261
David Der-wei Wang

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33. Has Chinese Propaganda Won Hearts and Minds?
268
Jie Li

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34. Why Is It Still So Hard to Talk about the Cultural Revolution?
276
Xiaofei Tian

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35. What Is the Future of China’s Past?
283
Stephen Owen

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36. How Has the Study of China Changed in the Last Sixty Years?
288
Paul A. Cohen

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Further Reading
297

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Acknowledgments
309

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Contributors
311

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Index
325

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

November 5, 2018

eBook ISBN:

9780674982703

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Main content:

320

Other:

4 graphs, 2 tables

https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674982703

eBook ISBN: 9780674982703

Keywords for this book

Air pollution in China; Chinese Communist Party; Cultural Revolution; Confucius; Confucianism; Chinese economy; education in China; history of China; Government of China; Mao Zedong; One-child policy; People’s Republic of China; Silk Road; Tiananmen Square

Harvard University Press

The China Questions

Overview

About this book

Reviews

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

1. Is the Chinese Communist Regime Legitimate?

2. Can Fighting Corruption Save the Party?

3. Does Mao Still Matter?

4. What Is the Source of Ethnic Tension in China?

5. What Should We Know about Public Opinion in China?

6. What Does Longevity Mean for Leadership in China?

7. Can the Chinese Communist Party Learn from Chinese Emperors?

8. Will China Lead Asia?

9. How Strong Are China’s Armed Forces?

10. What Does the Rise of China Mean for the United States?

11. Is Chinese Exceptionalism Undermining China’s Foreign Policy Interests?

12. (When) Will Taiwan Reunify with the Mainland?

13. Can China and Japan Ever Get Along?

14. Can China’s High Growth Continue?

15. Is the Chinese Economy Headed toward a Hard Landing?

16. Will Urbanization Save the Chinese Economy or Destroy It?

17. Is China Keeping Its Promises on Trade?

18. How Do China’a New Rich Give Back?

19. What Can China Teach Us about Fighting Poverty?

20. Can China Address Air Pollution And Climate Change?

21. Is There Environmental Awareness In China?

22. Why Does the End of the One-Child

23. How Are China and Its Middle Class Handling Aging and Mental Health?

24. How Important Is Religion in China?

25. Will There Be Another Dalai Lama?

26. Does Law Matter in China?

27. Why Do So Many Chinese Students Come to the United States?

28. Who Is Confucius in Today’s China?

29. Where Did the Silk Road Come From?

30. Why Do Intellectuals Matter to Chinese Politics?

31. Why Do Classic Chinese Novels Matter?

32. How Have Chinese Writers Imagined China’s Future?

33. Has Chinese Propaganda Won Hearts and Minds?

34. Why Is It Still So Hard to Talk about the Cultural Revolution?

35. What Is the Future of China’s Past?

36. How Has the Study of China Changed in the Last Sixty Years?

Further Reading

Acknowledgments

Contributors

Index

Bibliographic data