The Man Who Changed China, a state-sanctioned portrait of Jiang Zemin, reflects the image that China’s new leaders want their people to see: pragmatic, moderate, and above politics. The vision, however, does not often match reality.
Bruce Gilley is Adjunct Professor of International Affairs at the New School University in New York. He is the author of four books on China, including China’s Democratic Future and Tiger on the Brink: Jiang Zemin and China’s New Elite.
There are several ways to read The Man Who Changed China, an officially sanctioned portrait of Jiang Zemin, China’s recently retired top leader, written by the American investment banker Robert Lawrence Kuhn. Indeed, the biggest challenge of this book is figuring out exactly how to approach it.
