China: The Race to Market

A 304 pages book by Jonathan Story
Financial Times Prentice Hall - 2003

• China is at a critical turning point and could go in any of several directions. The direction China goes will depend on complex political and economic uncertainties. It can become a great power, it can disintegrate or it can hover between the two alternatives.
• To become rich, China depends on a world order that, in turn, depends on the United States. The world’s move to market democracy may be unstoppable. On the other hand, the world may be headed for revolution and warfare.
• China’s leadership is in a precarious situation, justifying legitimacy on Marxist principles but rejecting Marxism in practice. Chinese Communist leadership resembles Britain’s Tories — cautious, skeptical, conservative and protective of their own privileges.
• China has many voices and competing power centers. It is not a “unitary actor.”China’s population fears uncertainty and chaos more than it fears tyranny.