China after Mao Zedong: The truth behind the rise of a great power

China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower

★A masterpiece by Samuel Johnson Medal winner, a giant of contemporary Chinese historiography, and author of the People's Trilogy★
Debunking the myth of China's economic development from Mao Zedong's death to Xi Jinping's rise to power

China watcher James Palmer: "No one understands China, including the Chinese government."
Former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang: "China's GDP figures are artificial and unreliable."

The reality behind China's economic miracle is a rich country with poor people and severe wealth inequality.
The main purpose of economic reform is to maintain political monopoly and defeat democratic countries!

China seemingly emerged from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution and became the world's second-largest economy, creating an economic miracle;
Some experts argue that economic reform will inevitably drive political reform, and the Communist Party of China will unswervingly move towards democracy.
How real is this economic miracle? What is the main purpose of China's economic reforms?
While the government pursues superficial digital growth and implements absurd policies,
How do ordinary people suffer oppression, sacrifice, resist, or struggle to survive?
How has China developed step by step towards a more autocratic and dictatorial direction?
All these illusions are exposed one by one by Feng Ke, the Chinese historian who is most courageous in exposing the truth and has the strongest writing skills!

China only has one tanker, which looks majestic, but is busy patching up holes...
"The Chinese Communist Party's leaders have no clear long-term plan, nor do they know how to lead the country step by step toward prosperity. China is like an oil tanker: from a distance, it appears majestic and impressive, with the captain and mates proudly standing on the bridge, but below deck, sailors are desperately pumping water and plugging holes to prevent the ship from sinking. There is no 'grand plan' or 'secret strategy', only countless accidents, unforeseen consequences, unexpected reversals, and endless power struggles behind the scenes."

"I believe that only by recognizing all of this can we better understand that period of history."

Drawing on decades of personal travels across China, his reading of hundreds of confidential Communist Party documents, and the secret diaries of Li Rui, Mao Zedong's personal secretary, Feng Ke offers a captivating account of China's emergence from the devastation of the Cultural Revolution and its subsequent rise. From the countryside to the industrial metropolises and the secret meetings of the Party's elite, Feng Ke provides a fascinating glimpse into the country's unprecedented four-decade economic transformation—a transformation that propelled China from 126th in the world's economy to its second-largest.

Feng Ke boldly exposes that China's social development, far from being a steady march forward under the Party's direction, is rife with contradictions, illusions, and political intrigue. The book explores the disasters China narrowly avoided, shadow banking, the anti-corruption purge, the rapid growth of national wealth, and the daily poverty of its people. It also examines China's response to the financial crisis, the growing hostility toward it stemming from suspicions of Western political meddling, and how it developed into a thoroughly authoritarian regime through the construction of a vast security apparatus and the world's most advanced surveillance system. Feng Ke bluntly argues that the Communist Party's goal was never to join the democratic world but to confront and ultimately defeat it.

Media praise

The narrative is well-written... and offers an important revision of the conventional wisdom about China's rise. —Financial Times

This book is one of the most profound and detailed studies of the complex phenomenon of China's rise since World War II... A fascinating read. —The Diplomatic Courier

Feng Ke is a skilled writer whose works are easy to read for both professionals and casual readers. - The Washington Observer

This book challenges many of the explanations for China's rapid rise from a closed agricultural economy to a global superpower in just four decades... Feng Ke's deeply researched book is a significant contribution to the field of study on China's rise. Highly recommended. —Choice

This book presents a convincing and rich narrative and analysis of Chinese history from the early 1970s to 2022... Full of historical secrets and profound insights, it is suitable for both researchers and general readers. - Bookshelf Bulletin

Feng Ke not only provides a brilliant account of the astonishing expansion of the Chinese economy, especially the banking, industrial, trade, and monetary policies on which the government relies, but also offers a scathing critique. — Cox Review

Debunks the myth of the Chinese economic miracle...Widely researched and powerfully argued, this is a must-read for China watchers. —Publishers Weekly

Whether exploring the relative importance of party politics and economic policy, or expounding on the delicate relationship between power, productivity, and protest, Feng Ke uses extremely clear language to reveal the intricate connections between them. - South China Morning Post

2024-02-01

聯經出版公司

424

9789570872583