China since Tiananmen

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: An impressive survey of Chinese intellectual development in the 1990s.

Rating:
Summary: Great China Book
Review: Fewsmith has produced a truly magnificent book. For anyone interested in modern China, this book is a valuable asset. His new book is a detailed and thorough examination of the political and intellectual currents shaping Chinese society since the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. Few other authors so ably present the intellectual and social debates with China - conflicts over how should China view the United States, the international economy, its own political conditions, and China's conception of itself in a globalizing, yet unipolar world.

Fewsmith does accurately capture the different sentiments of average Chinese (contrary to another reviewer's estimation). There was a spontaneous outpouring after the 1999 embassy bombing, and understandably so as many Chinese were scared and uncertain by the event.

In short, Fewsmith has made an extremely valuable addition to our understanding of the complex and evolving social, culutaral and political aspects of modern China.

Rating:
Summary: A Pedant's View of China
Review: It's quite obvious that Professor Fewsmith never left the clostered chambers of Boston University. His sources are chiefly those of speeches and reports of China's dictatorial rulers.If he had visted Beijing's universities and spoken with the students and instructors he'd have gotten a much different impression. For example he was of the eroneous opinion that the protest of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was a spontanious outpour of national sentiment. If he'd been at Beijing University he could have seen how government agents paid students to participate in a government orchestated demonstration at the U.S. Embassy.

The Taiwan issue is another of his numerous misinterpretations.
Thousands of wealthy Taiwan merchants and corporate magnets are investing millions of dollars into the Chinese economy. Their bribery has essentially gained control of the Chinese leaders. It is Taiwan who is conquoring China.