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Book Description
In his new book on China, Henry Kissinger turns for the first time at book-length to the country he has known intimately for decades, and whose modern relations with the West he helped shape. Drawing on historical records as well as his conversations with Chinese leaders over the past forty years, Kissinger examines how China has approached diplomacy, strategy, and negotiation throughout its history, and reflects on the consequences for the 21st-century world.
As Kissinger underscores, the unique conditions under which China developed continue to shape its policies and attitudes toward the outside world. For millennia, China rarely encountered other societies of comparable size and sophistication. China was the "Middle Kingdom," treating the peoples on its periphery as vassal states. At the same time, Chinese statesmen—facing threats of invasion from without, and the contests of competing factions within—developed a canon of strategic thought that emphasized long-term structural advantage rather than zero-sum absolute victory, and that prized the virtues of subtlety, patience, and indirection over feats of martial prowess.
With the enduring institutions of Chinese statecraft and civilization clearly in mind, Kissinger's book on China examines key episodes in Chinese foreign policy from the earliest days through the 20th century, with a particular emphasis on the modern era. Kissinger illuminates the inner workings of Chinese diplomacy during such events as the initial encounters between China and modern European powers, the formation and breakdown of the Sino-Soviet alliance, the Korean War, the opening of relations with the United States, the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and China's accession to the World Trade Organization. Drawing on both historical records and personal experience, Kissinger traces the evolution of Sino-American relations in the past sixty years, following their course from estrangement, to strategic partnership, and toward an uncertain future. He analyzes the two towering figures of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, and their divergent visions of China's modern destiny. With a final chapter on the future of Sino-American relations and China's 21st-century world role, Kissinger's book on China provides a sweeping historical perspective on Chinese foreign policy from one of the premier statesmen of the 20th century.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasantly Surprised,
By
Ce commentaire est de: On China (Hardcover)
During Henry Kissinger's strut upon the world stage, he always appeared aloof, superior and slightly above mere mortals. As China is a voraciously rising power which will usurp the world order, albeit in a Chinese way and not, in what a lot of people seem to believe, a "western" way, I have been reading and watching this "tiger" unfold.I was expecting to read a China perspective by Henry Kissinger that would come across as an aloof book. I was pleasantly surprised and found it quite a riveting read that was full of insight, both from a micro and macro level. It gave me a much deeper understanding of the "Chinese way" and also broadened my understanding of what has been happening globally due to China's influence. I had read over the years about what China was doing in certain parts of the world, Africa in particular, but could not quite grasp their intent - this book put that in clear perspective. Also The "Taiwan question" is much clearer once I understood the way in which they use ancient warfare texts("The Art of War")to influence their way of thinking and acting. From a business perspective Taiwan in now Inexorably linked to China. I would highly recommend this book, both for its content and insights from a statesman who has been in dialogue with China and it's leaders for a very long time.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good general introduction.,
By
Ce commentaire est de: On China (Hardcover)
Before 1969 the People's Republic of China and USSR were seen as one large Communist bloc whose power centre was in Moscow however as 1969 rolled around and Russian troops massed on the Chinese border, nuclear war between Russia and China appeared probable (so much so that Chinese leaders were dispersed from Beijing around the country). At this point President Nixon decided that Russia was the worse of the two evils which made possible a heretofore unlikely meeting with Chairman Mao in 1972 and a relatively stable period of peaceful co-existence has existed between the USA and China since.Henry Kissinger was the National Security Advisor to Nixon and was a key figure in setting up the meeting between the unlikely bedfellows. His book charts the history of China from its ancient origins, commenting on the nature of Chinese society and its early belief in its own superiority in the world, not in a proselytizing or crusading manner as one thinks of the neo-con crusade for the democratisation of the third world, but through sheer confidence in ones cultural superiority. And this confidence was badly shaken following the opium wars with the UK with one embarrassing concession after another to host of Western nations on trade, diplomatic relations and even ownership of Chinese lands. It deals with the civil war that led to the Communist victory (the nationalists escaping to settle what is now known as Taiwan) as well as successive Communist policy blunders such as the Great Leap Forward, an aim to increase industrial output rapidly to overtake the West in 15 years with goals so unrealistic that local officials faked their grain figures which were then relied upon as Mao sold off much of China's remaining grain to Russia in exchange for weapons triggering a famine that killed as many as 45 million people. There is also the Cultural Revolution, part of Mao's vision of continual revolution, an attempt to wipe out all traces of China's Confucian inspired civil service in which many senior mandarins were removed from their positions and sent to labour in the fields, including in their ranks the future leads of the country Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin and very nearly Mao's right hand man Zhao Enlai. The book is a very useful grounding in modern Chinese political history and it is interesting to observe Chinese foreign policy from the viewpoint of a game of Wei Qi in which two players place down respectively black and white tiles, the object being to encircle ones enemy. Kissinger is at some times almost an apologist for Mao and whilst some of the worst excesses are noted, more effort is put into understanding his decisions in the framework of Chinese history. An explanation for the softer tone towards Mao could be to lesson the burden of being the man to have established relations with a man responsible for more that 45 million deaths. Henry Kissinger is very much a Republican and top marks to American forgeign policy go to Nixon, Reagan and both Bushes. Clinton and Carter are both criticised as being too gun-ho about trying to spread and apply Western values in a Chinese context. Whatever the problems with this book I would certainly recommend it as an introductory book on Modern China because it is one that will make you want to read more.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
On China Henry Kissinger,
By
Ce commentaire est de: On China (Hardcover)
Excellent, very well written and very informative.The author's ample knowledge and many years of experience on the firing line is evident on each page of the book. It's extremely useful and illuminating for anyone wishing to understand today's current events based on the happenings of years past. The past influences the present, the present will influence the future. This gives an idea of what to expect -in the near future- from a country that grows more powerful with each passing day and with a total different philosophy from ours. Highly recommended.
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