Rating: 
Summary: China beyond the modern face of the cities
Review: ...BR> There is one area where I disagree strongly with the author. He describes the political system of China and how the Chinese mentality is to be subservient to authority and concludes that revolt against the communist leadership is most unlikely. If there is one thing that the collapse of the Soviet Empire should teach us, it is that apparently stable communist political systems can fall apart in a matter of months. In place for over seven decades, and at the cost of millions of lives, the Soviet Union appeared so powerful in the middle of the 1980's. And yet, less than five years later, it no longer existed and all of Eastern Europe turned to democracy in less than a year.
This is the best description of the problems facing the Chinese state that I have ever read. It debunks some of the common myths about China and after reading it, you understand that quick judgments about the country, the leadership and the people are dangerous. After reading it, you also understand that it is very possible that the country could become unraveled very quickly, which would be a very dangerous situation.
Rating:
Summary: What China will be in the 21st century?
Review: A must read for those who have to deal with China whether in politics, academic or business. Becker, who has spent more than 15 years in China as a journalist, gives an anatomy of modern China including a brief introduction of Chinese history. It is one of the most comprehensive descriptions of China in minority affairs, society, political system, education, military, rule of law, one-child policy, business, . . . among others. China is at a crossroad at the beginning of a new millennium. Its State Owned Enterprises, SOE, are not competitive and at the brink of bankruptcy. Unemployment is at record high. Old industrial areas like Manchuria have become a rust belt. And rampant corruption in its bureaucratic system has made the Communist regime a great joke of the 20th century. Becker collects all the important facts of modern China and details some intricacies that surprise even those who have paid close attention to Chinese affairs. The epilogue, 'Examining the Oracle Bones,' concludes the book wisely. 'Since almost everything the state says is untrue, and most information is kept secret, there is no real trust or cooperation between its officials and the rest of the population,' Becker writes. 'China's future depends on the extent to which a basis of trust between government and people can be established,' suggested Becker. The two parties, the Chinese Communist Party and the Koununtang who had governed the Chinese since 1911, are 'peas from the same pod.' Taiwan finally seized the opportunity in last March by electing President Chen Shui-bian who used to be a dissident to building a full fledged democratic system. It provides hope for Chinese to change. Yu-Tai Chia, President (1993 - 1996), Chinese Democracy Education Foundation
Rating: 
Summary: Muck-raker with an agenda
Review: As a mainland-born, American-raised/educated Chinese, I went into this book with high expectations. As Mr. Becker points out himself, China is a nation with a population greater than Europe, the United States, and the former Soviet Union combined. When you combine that with the tremendous social, economic, and political changes occuring to one of the oldest civilizations on Earth, you end up with incomparable human drama. I expected Studs Terkel; an enlightening analysis of Chinese society, with the threads for this fabric consisting of interviews with "the Chinese". We would learn as from the telling of the story in their own words, as we would from the actual stories. The significance of their story is matched by the importance of their own perspective of the story. Jasper Becker is no Studs Terkel. This book is exclusively a book for Becker's personal perspectives. He's chosen a format where he can thrown half-truths out there as historical fact (just the first chapter on Tibet/ethnic minorities is very clearly representative of this tendency) without need for citing ANY type of accepted historical record. How can you make statements like: "The cumulative effect of these various policies has been to make the minorities still poorer..." ... without some attempt at demographic study, or at least referencing some other work that has "proven" this point? The objective studies I've seen seem to make it clear that, regardless of the perspective you take on Beijing's political/religious/social repression in Tibet, they have invested great amounts toward economic development in these rural areas. (For a better treatment of the subject, I'd refer you to Goldstein's "The Snow Lion and the Dragon"). I actually have no problems with presenting that point of view... *especially* if Becker had bothered to work it into his work as part of the larger oral history from a Tibetan Chinese. The few quotes that are included in this book are anecdotal in nature, and there is most definitely the sense that Becker has selectively chosen them to fit the story that he wishes to tell. Quite frankly, I'm not interested in Becker's story. If you're interested in learning about the Chinese, visit China and speak with the people; most definitely do not purchase this book. If instead you're interested in learning why the activists in this country detest Beijing... you can read this book, or just follow along every day media reports which capture that perspective just as adequately.
Rating:
Summary: Chinese hater's delight
Review: Don't really find any insight about the Chinese people as a whole. Jasper simply observed and added his own prejudice to it. For example, "When I spoke to the peasants of Zizhou, the villagers had just returned from a performance by a travelling opera troupe who had set up a temporary stage on the only patch of flat ground in the narrow valley. As we talked we could hear the high-pitched voices and the clash of cymbals as the troupe played out another tale... The ritualized performance, and the peasants' delight in it, spoke of history's powerful and oftern merciless grip on the minds of so many in China." Sounds like he think only Europeans are capable of enjoying the music and the artistry of an opera performance. Chinese people enjoying Chinese opera proves "[Chinese] history's powerful and often merciless grip on the minds of so many in China." What kind of analysis/insight is this?
Rating: 
Summary: Very Informative
Review: I found this book to be fascinating. Having lived and traveled some years in Asia and having been in China twice, I found that it shed some light on the current situation as well as recent history. One thing I would like to know is Jasper Becker's qualifications for writing the book. It does not say anything about his education or training and if he speaks/reads fluent Chinese or not. This would make a huge difference in the quality of his reporting. Also, he gives several quotes by Mao which show a complete disregard for the loss of life in the event of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, but it is difficult to evaluate the credibility of his source. It is interesting how, as he points out, many overseas Chinese react negatively to any criticism of China. And some of the reviews here show that! Certaintly, his evaluation of the environmental problems facing the nation as perhaps the most important challenge is spot on. However, he definitely has a bias. It is a pro-human rights one. Not a bad thing to have!
Rating:
Summary: an accessible account of China
Review: I have wanted to know more about China but most of the books I have tried to read on the subject just put me to sleep. I used to think it is because the subject wasn't interesting to anyone but an international relations major -- but this book changed everything for me. Mr. Becker gives a thorough and engaging account of China in the second half of the 20th century. It is a real eye-opener. China must have great PR agents in the West, because I had NO IDEA the problems this communist country has with education, medical care, and corruption. This book is a MUST READ for everyone who believes that communism "works" in China, and that without it, the country would not be able to feed its 1,000,000,000 people. Very thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting as a foundation to build upon.
Review: It seesm to be the rule with most books on China that if one reviewer gives a book a 5 star rating and thinks it's an earth shattering work of unheard of beauty, the next reviewer will give it 1 star and say that it's the biggest load of dross they've ever read and bears no relation to the reality of China and the Chinese. Well when reading tihs review, do bear in mind I'm no Old China Hand, but I rather enjoyed this book. The book takes the form of a series of largely unconnected chapters each of which deals with a different aspect of (largely contemporary or near contemporary) Chinese life. The book does not provide exhaustive coverage of all aspects of China, but for somebody new to the subject it is interesting enough (the author includes a few personal snippets and occassionally focuses on specific Chinese people he's met) and provides food for thought. The author sources some of his chapters and, especially in chapters dealing with business or demographics, litters the prose with figures and statistics. This is useful, but not THAT useful. The book is not ordered as an academic text and personally (maybe I'm just stupid, mind) having read it I couldn't quote the figures to you - they mostly gave a broad impression which was then washed away as I carried on through the book. It's an interesting book. I'd certainly recommend people read it if they are relatively new to the subject. But on the whole it's worth while not ONLY reading this book. China is such a complex (and controversial) subject that reading around fairly thoroughly is essential for any serious understanding. In truth, I get the impression that learning the language and visiting the country are probably essential too! If you want to whet your appetite with something fairly readable and reasonably broad brush, this is a pretty good starting point.
Rating:
Summary: A soy sauce vat full of putrescent brine?
Review: Jasper Becker brings the seasoned China-watcher's cynicism to this book. His comment that "anyone who spends time working in China eventually comes to doubt even basic facts," sums it up nicely. Ironically, though, his own book abounds with facts. Some of these should be taken with a generous pinch of salt (see the probing review by "Brian" dated March 10, 2002, for some examples). In China statistics are for the most part propaganda. Even if the newspapers "uncover" that huge amounts of money have been embezzled, these figures have a function as propaganda; the purpose is to remove certain people (who fell out of favor) from their office. Sadly, the result of the mismanagement of information is that nobody in China, and least of all the so-called planners, knows what is going on. The only way to find out what is "real" in China is to go there and see for oneself. Jasper Becker's book is a good place to start exploring because he has been a first-hand observer since 1985, when he went to Beijing as the China correspondent for Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (at that time still a reputable, sufficiently independent newspaper). Becker has been fired by the paper in 2001, and I tend to regard this as a sign of integrity. "The Chinese" is a valuable primer on the bureaucratic origins of the present People's Republic of China, the mandarins' (and Communist cadres') venerable tradition of living off taxes levied on the peasants, the charming ways how to please superiors by cooking the books, and the various instances in which the bureaucratic system failed to perform. Becker shows how the problems of the present originated in the history of China, and highlights the similarities between the Communist rule today and the feudal Emperors of the past. Becker does not go as far as one of the most infamous critics of Communist China, the Taiwanese writer Bo Yang. He wrote a bestseller entitled "The Ugly Chinaman" and thinks that there is something wrong in the Chinese national character and at the very heart of Chinese culture: "Chinese culture, he delighted in telling everyone who came to see him in Taipei, was nothing but a vat of putrefied soy sauce giving off a horrible stench: 'Even if one were to place a fresh peach in a soy sauce vat full of putrescent brine, it would eventually turn into a dry turd.'" But any reader will come away from Becker's book with the uncomfortable and disturbing feeling that much in China is rotten to the core, and the prosperity of the coastal cities - foremost Shanghai where I worked for three years - may be built on very shaky ground. "The Chinese" is comprehensive, informed, critical, and less polemic than "The Coming Collapse of China" (2001) by Gordon G. Chang, who worked as a lawyer in Shanghai. The book is arguably the best overview of the present state of China written by a journalist in recent years.
Rating:
Summary: A bit too long, but still full of excellent observations.
Review: Kudos to Becker for his placement of the Chinese in historical context. The book is worth its salt if for no other part than the 20 page introduction that gives a synopsis of the Chinese state. And this book could have been written by no one other than someone who had observed every day life in China for a period of ten years. Even after all this, he is still good about admitting that the place eludes generalization. I've just finished living in China and have found that many of the things that he says are correct. For example: He mentions that the cities are among the most prosperous places and that the rich people live there as they always have. The further one goes from the city centers, the more obvious the real picture is. He makes some very prescient observations about the affinity of the Chinese for tyrants and their love of all-controlling, authoritarian regimes. If the CCP collapsed tomorrow, the citizenry wouldn't know what to do with itself if history is any guide. Everyone also seems to think that China is going to take over the world in the near future. After reading the details of the book, one wonders: "Is this really consistent with what you would expect from such a situation as he describes?" One or two things that are missing that were covered in later publications--by different authors: What happens in the case where there is a large peasantry that feels that their taxes are being extracted to support the wealthy? What happens when there is a huge excess of men to women in a particular country? At the beginning of the book, he said that he was not going to offer a book about political ideology. But it would have been nice if he had drawn just a few more parallels between what happened in other places under similar circumstances. (This story has been told many times before; Only the players are different.) Actually, there are too many good observations to even address within the word limit of the reviews. One other that is too good to resist noting is the Chinese concept of "race," as it was taught many years ago by Sun Yat Sen (Chinese and White are superior and all others are inferior, thus the Chinese race must regenerate itself or risk extinction) that is still very much believed in Taiwan and colors certain notions/ statements that one hears in every day life there as well as in the Mainland. Lastly, he could have shaved about 75 pages off the book and it would not have been diminished in any way. When dealing with such large amounts of factual information as he put in the book, shorter is always better. In any case, there is very little that I disagree with in this book and most people (especially Sinophiles and other romantics) would do very well to read this book and understand what it demonstrates.
Rating:
Summary: Mandatory Reading
Review: My work concerns the economic impact of legal infrastructures. I have written about legal systems in various countries including Thailand, Japan, Korea, Brazil and Taiwan. Most recently I've been working on legal infrastructure in China. My articles have been published in Foreign Affairs and ChinaOnline. I have read and reread and Jasper Becker's book "The Chinese". It is truly one of the most informative books that I have ever read. It should be mandatory reading for any world leader. In addition, it should be required reading for anyone who is even remotely interested in investing in China. Mr. Becker exposes the fraud and myth of China with beautiful language and a plethora of facts. His portrait of China is unassailable to anyone who has taken the trouble to dig beneath the 1.2 billion person market fiction. It is impossible to even think about China without reference to this book. Simply fascinating
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