In The New York Sun, Gordon Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China, writes about James Mann’s new book:
James Mann’s “The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression” (Viking, 127 pages, $19.95) is not a book about China. As he writes, it is about the China that he has encountered elsewhere. It is about the West’s optimism, na√Øvete, greed, and, most of all, self-delusion. His thesis is simple: China is not democratizing, and for decades our leaders’ pronouncements have been dead wrong about the nation ruled from Beijing.
Mr. Mann, a veteran journalist and the author of “The Rise of the Vulcans,” identifies three possible futures for the world’s most populous authoritarian state. The most popular one is the Soothing Scenario, in which decades of economic development will inevitably lead to democratization. The Upheaval Scenario holds that China is headed for disaster. And then there is the Third Scenario: China will remain repressive for decades. [Full Text]
– Read a CDT interview with James Mann about The China Fantasy and his views of China-U.S. relations.
