Chinas Road Ahead Problems, Questions, Perspectives [Paperback]

This book provides a critical commentary on China's situation and future outlook from the perspective of the 2012-13 generational power transfer. In this power transfer, taking place against the background of an increasingly unstable domestic situation, an apparently outstandingly successful generation of half-communist leaders, recently increasingly plagued by scandal, transferred responsibility to a generation confronted by mixed expectations and factional in-fighting. Many international observers doubt that the new leadership will have the will or the power to introduce serious reforms in a country that reports 100,000 riots involving more than 500 persons in public areas per year. The China of 2013 seems to be in the midst of a transition seldom seen since the 1970s. The question is if the resulting hope expressed by Chinese dissidents and Western leaders for a necessary development of China's still largely autocratic system towards a kind of context-adequate democracy is plausible or not. Featuring incisive commentary by the authors and interviews with experts on the regions political economy, the volume addresses such timely questions as: Should rapid democratization of China be the strategic goal of the West or rather a step-by-step approach towards the rule of law first, and illiberal democracy to follow? Should the West be more worried about a thriving China, or a China in crisis? Will Chinas success contribute to the success of the global community and the world order system, or be a threat to it? What can the West do to help China develop more participatory and inclusive approaches in order to secure social stability? And how can the West strengthen its democratic allies on Chinas borders?

Endorsements

This is a book I recommend to students and teachers around the globe. It provides a concise introduction into present Chinas main problems, questions and perspectives. A must for lÃv