3 comments about Sanshiro: A Novel (Michigan Classics in Japanese Studies).

1. Soseki's first attempt at a serious (as opposed to Botchan), full-length novel is a wonderful story of a country boy, Sanshiro, in his first year at Tokyo University studying literature. During the year he falls in love and unwittingly gets involved in university politics.
   Set in the early 1900's, the book examines Japanese society moving into the modern world. Sanshiro is trapped between the traditional Japan of his home, the modern world of Tokyo, and the academic world of the University. He falls in love with a modern woman, but has difficulty relating to her because he has little experience with woman and because of his traditional upbringing.
   My droll description by no means does the novel justice. As a coming-of-age story, it is superior to Western classics such as This Side of Paradise and The Catcher in the Rye. It is an utterly charming novel that shows Soseki's fine sense of humor as well as his skill and insight in critiquing Japanese society and man entering a modern world. Soseki's simple, elegant writing style survives even through translation. It serves well as an introduction to Soseki's works, which later are darker psychological analyses.



2. "Sanshiro" is a coming-of-age novel, Meiji Japan style. This is definitely not one of Soseki's better known novels, especially in the United States, but it still has an appeal and sharpness that transcends time and cultural barriers.

   "Sanshiro" is in many ways both different and yet similar to Soseki's most famous work, "Kokoro." Both include tales of heartbreak and tragedy, along with social commentary on Japanese society. For whatever reason, Sanshiro struck me as a much more "modern" book than Kokoro. Using the word modern on a book written 100 years ago may seem odd, but reading Soseki's comments on Japanese society at the time (end of the 19th/beginning of 20th century Japan), then considering the ultimate result of the Meiji cultural "revolution" (the emphasis on Western science and Eastern philosophy which led to militaristic ultranationalism), and then again the state of Japan today and it is clear that Soseki's comments are not outdated.

   Similarly, Sanshiro's Mineko is a much more modern, "Western" young lady than her counterpart in Kokoro. Unlike Kokoro's Ojosan, who didn't seem to have a thought of her own, Mineko is beautiful, intelligent, slightly haughty, and has a mysterious appeal about her. She is not some trophy to be captured, but a person to be respected in her own right. I found myself verbally assaulting the annoyingly clumsy Sanshiro when he missed opportunity after opportunity to get to know Mineko better. Of course, when he finally develops some guts it's too late. The blame for this unhappy end falls on Mineko as well, as she is one of Sanshiro and Yojiro's generation's "unconscious hypocrites" in the words of Soseki. Mineko knows that she has found a fellow stray sheep in Sanshiro, yet she ultimately abandons him.

   Soseki's writing is again a joy to read. Every time you encounter a passage that seems to start getting a little monotonous, he throws in a paragraph that seems absolutely brilliant. The characters are similarly memorable. I liked Kokoro a bit better, but Sanshiro is still an excellent book that has aged well.




3. I rate this irony laden story on par with Soseki's most important novel, 'Kokoro.' Joseph Conrad's novels had to travel to Africa and the East Indies to establish the parameters within which the Japanese lived their daily lives as they grappled with the effects of Western Rationalism upon a nonindustrial society. Fortunately for world literature, Soseki Natsume was up to the task of documenting this transitional period with grace, wit, and sensitivity. Soseki's books generally are either serious ('Kokoro') or satiric ('Botchan,' 'I Am A Cat'), 'Sanshiro' is both and it is the better for it.
   After graduating from a provincial school Sanshiro enters Japan's greatest university and encounters a number of Tokyo sophisticates, among them westernized girls, famed artists and writers, jaded academicians, dedicated scientists and his best friend Yojiro a lovable, well-meaning scoundrel who constantly throws his shy and self-effacing compatriot into the thick of things. Because there are so many elements that make up this heady mix, the reader has the choice of processing the story on many different levels. At the very simplest level it is about first love and disappointment, but it is also a commentary upon the effects of the new on the old, East meets West, the city vs. the countryside, the traditional and untraditional, youthful idealism and middle-aged disappointment. This probably sounds as though it might be tedious or pedantic, but really Soseki's treatment of the themes is gentle and a delight to read. For instance, when one of Sanshiro's heroes is disgraced by a well-meaning plan that goes awry, Soseki blunts the pain by riffng on the inscrutability of the 'philosophical smoke' streaming through his victim-hero's nostrils as he puffs on his pipe. A stream of smoke by which Sanshiro's roguish friend claims to read emotions. Also, when Soseki lampoons the intellectual conceits of his characters, he does it in a way that the reader must seriously consider each proposition before the joke becomes apparent. As to the pain of disappointment in love, this is always sad and heartfelt yet Soseki is able to ameliorate it by leaving the subject and the object of the heartbreak ambiguous as if either side may have been responsible.
   This is imagined, but one begins to suspect that Haruki Murakami was influenced by this novel and even appropriates some of the themes found in it for his own: mysterious and alluring women who flit in and out of the story, odd scientific and philosophical theories as props, central character as passive witness. It is fun to imagine this and one begins to find other coincidences too. Anyway, it is just a thought, perhaps brought on by the coincidence that Jay Rubin, the translator who does an excellent job of bringing this text to life, also translates for Haruki Murakami.
   Readers, this is one of the finer Japanese novels that I have encountered. The author often had me smiling, laughing, cringing, sighing and rooting for the various characters in this well told story.

No comments about Reading Tao Yuanming: Shifting Paradigms of Historical Reception (427 - 1900) (Harvard East Asian Monographs).

3 comments about Fun In Chinese Laundry (Lively Arts).

1. Full of cynical, razor-sharp and often very funny opinions. It's so one-sided, however, that I came away very curious to read what Dietrich herself thought about their relationship-- preferably in her own words.

   Sternberg was definitely quite a character, and his autobiography is vastly entertaining.




2. In this magisterial autobiography, Josef von Sternberg reflects about his personal career, film and its history and art.
   Von Sternberg will always be remembered for one of the most impressive movies of all times 'Der blaue Engel', but his career covers the sound and silent movie period.
   
   It is a very revealing book, not about his personal life, but about his professional viewpoints and struggles.
   
   His actor's direction was based on a penetrating insight into the real human nature. First, he considered that 'the guinea pig of the artist is his own self' and secondly, that 'the average human being lives behind an impenetrable veil and will disclose his deep emotions only in a crisis which robs him of control'.
   His professional life was an enduring fight with
   (1) the film studios and its producers. He knew their blatant commercialism: 'If a snail were to offer a contribution of value to Hollywood, it would be located instantly'.
   (2) his actors (an E. Jannings or a C. Laughton behaved like bad children on the set. A notable exception was his miraculous actress Marlene Dietrich.)
   (3) his rivals within the director's guild.
   and ultimately when the movie was produced (4) the moral establishment and its servile movie critics.
   
   Von Sternberg understood the profound impact of the film medium, which revealed 'the real world where wealth and poverty live side by side, and where cruelty and indifference can no longer be ignored.' The medium has an amoral basis: 'the strongest appeal to the masses was the simplest one: the formula always revolves around sex and its biological associate, violence. ... One bond that links all audiences is the animal in man.'
   
   He also gives us a penetrating portrait of some of the greatest masters of cinema: D.W. Griffith ('remove these 10000 horses a trifle to the right'), C. Chaplin ('the comic side of humiliation') or E. von Stroheim ('the intensity of his actor's direction').
   
   His ultimate goal was to create 'art', for 'it is easier to kill than to create.'
   The overall picture shows us von Sternberg as a noble, passionate, honest, craftful and extremely intelligent movie director.
   This autobiography is part thriller, part melo, part drama, part psychoanalysis.
   It is an essential read, not only for the film historian.



3. Jo Sternberg received his first screen credit in 1923, as an assistant director. The film's producer streched Jo's name by adding the --sef von-- to it, saying the longer title sounded regal. Sternberg hated the idea, until criticism came in from everywhere that "the Huns are taking over Hollywood." Because of this backlash, Jo defiantly chose to keep his new moniker. This vignette speaks volumes about Mr. Sternberg.
   
   As a director, he was widely hated by dozens of actors, writers and producers. In FUN IN A CHINESE LAUNDRY, Sternberg deflects and denies every charge, yet could all those accusations be false? Jo admits that he routinely criticized actors for not following his instructions precisely, and never gave praise when they performed well. To him, blandishments would have been like "praising them for breathing." The man has nothing good to say about actors and their craft, and he takes up two entire chapters doing so. Special "attention" is lavished on the despised Emil Jannings (a "manipulator") and Charles Laughton ("masochistic" and "a daymare").
   
   Sternberg is an excellent storyteller, particularly about the many exotic locales he'd visited. His memories of individual movies reveal a colossal ego-- every minor actor he came in contact with was immediately launched to stardom, so he claims. The director is everything; the cast and story secondary. His cinematic flops were someone else's fault-- in his own mind, Jo could do no wrong.
   
   And yet for all the rant and egocentrism, FUN IN A CHINESE LAUNDRY is a fascinating read. Simply take Jo's occasional forays into excessive metaphoric semi-colonisms with a grain of aspirin, and wait for the good parts. You'll be more than amply rewarded.
   
   
   Josef von Sternberg was annoyed that people constantly confused him with his directorial contemporary, STROHEIM.

1 comments about A Chinese Winter's Tale: An Autobiographical Fragment (Renditions Paperbacks) (Renditions Paperbacks).

1. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a good, thought provoking read. And at the same time gain some basic knowledge of the Cultural Revolution, the laws and class backgrounds (among others) in China. This sort of genre is known as `literature of truth'. It is an autobiography, but more that, it is a story of love. It is about life's struggle, of hope and never giving up. I can honestly say that this has been an inspiring and fruitful read for me.

2 comments about Two Years in the Melting Pot.

1. Are you interested to know how a Chinese person experienced cultural shock in the US ? Then this book is a MUST. No book that I have read about the Chinese (and I have read many indeed) has touched me as profoundly as this precious glimpse into the personal feelings (rarely shared with Westerners) experienced by a gentle Chinese man during his two year stay in the Chicago area during the early 1980s. His English is excellant and his literary style very expressive and easy to read. His honesty and humor can not fail to touch the soul of the reader. I am deeply grateful to Mr. Liu for sharing his thoughts and experiences with us.



2. As of you always heard people saying America is the melting pot, or a salad bowl, well this book tells the story of a Chinese man learn what it is to be and how hard it is to adapted to another culture. As the heart broken story start with him leaving his home of his family and children are waiting for him when he get back from his educational journey. Nearing half of his life away, he have leave home many times some times even long and much more dangerous then this journey to America but everyone still strong, but the story, the author have his way of describing the sadness of leaving his home and his family.
   Liu Zongren shown a lot of honesty in himself with other, and also the humor of how the author describe the ways that he adapted to the American ways with his many questions of the cultures he barely know and soon be leaving again. As the author dealing with cultures shock you will be drawn into the book and soon you will feel that you are dealing with the culture shock with the author also, the writing of Liu is very strong and it will attract you to the book as you read along.

5 comments about Blood Red Sunset: A Memoir of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

1. Great book. Msut read. Broke my heart



2. Expecting to hear tales of families and everyday people, this book is instead about a student, Ma Bo, who took up the fight with the Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution. Though Bo tells some interesting stories about how the Red Guard worked, and how ignorant those in power seemed to be, he also feels very sorry for himself and how he was treated. One tires of the whining. Beyond that, some of the translation seemed to use vernacular that was inappropriate or dated. Overall, a disappointment.



3. Any student of Communism must read this book. Anyone who forgot what Communism is must read this book. I never cease to be amazed at what evil mankind wrought upon itself when Communism entered the world's stage. I cannot conceive of what it must have been like to suffer through such nonsense. Ma Bo tells it like it was, that the period from 1966 - 1976 was a gaping cultural wound that the Chinese public still suffers from.
   
   Stories of beatings, torture, sycophancy, and greed permeate these pages. There really is nothing positive to say about the time period. It is chilling. I had to read this book for my history of Modern China as an undergraduate, some 10 years ago. It still remains with me.
   
   Anyone who remains a Communist after reading this book must needs have much to answer for.



4. This is an absolutely phenomenal book. There's so much about the Cultural Revolution and the early days of Communist China that just gets glossed over in history classes and general books about the country. Ma Bo was on the inside of it all, and despite his unflinching belief in Communist ideals, was nonetheless punished by the very system he had so much faith in.
   
   I was worried that this book would be tainted by the stain of moralizing one way or the other. What a relief it is to read on such a charged subject and not be preached at. Ma Bo simply tells his story, and you take away from it whatever you will. There's deep understanding of what motivated the Chinese then (and to one degree or other still motivates them today), and there is much to be learned from this tale.
   
   Whatever your thoughts on Communism, I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is at all curious about this major chapter in modern Chinese history.



5. It was in good shape, the only thing that was annoying was it said it was garenteed to arrive on a certain date, but it was one day late. I blame this more on UPS than Amazon. Everything else was really good!

No comments about Seeking Modernity in China's Name: Chinese Students in the United States, 1900-1927.

2 comments about Mae Franking's My Chinese Marriage: An Annotated Edition.

1. its a good story. it best describe the intermarriage between east and the west



2. century. I enjoyed reading about their relationship. I found the way Mae Franking tried to become a good Chinese wife very interesting. I found the original edition of this book in my college library. In the original, there are no pictures and it was written by M.F. This new annotated edition gives pictures and dates, so it really helps the reader to picture the story. The book was fascinating, and sad because they both died quite early in life.

3 comments about A Higher Kind of Loyalty.

1. Absolutely absorbing! Liu Binyan is showing why he is seen as China's most influential investigative reporter. The book reads like a novel. It takes the reader inside the soul of the ordinary Chinese people. Page after page is filled with images of tremendous dignity and courage in the face of a strangulating system. Characters come alive like the young woman, Zhang Zhixin, who realized that Mao's policies had failed and said so. For this she was condemmed to death by firing squad. But in order to prevent her from having the last word the State cut her larynx. Curt Vonnegut's answer to what it is in the German character that allowed such atrocities to happen in WW2 echoes repeatedly "obedience". Obeying laws that are not in the common good. The spirit of the Chinese people rises high above and will not be quieted by violence. "We will all repent in this generation not only for the hateful words and deeds of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." Martin Luther King



2. Absolutely absorbing! Liu Binyan is showing why he is seen as China's most influential investigative reporter. The book reads like a novel. It takes the reader inside the soul of the ordinary Chinese people. Page after page is filled with images of tremendous dignity and courage in the face of a strangulating system. Characters come alive like the young woman, Zhang Zhixin, who realized that Mao's policies had failed and said so. For this she was condemmed to death by firing squad. But in order to prevent her from having the last word the State cut her larynx. Curt Vonnegut's answer to what it is in the German character that allowed such atrocities to happen in WW2 echoes repeatedly "obedience". Obeying laws that are not in the common good. The spirit of the Chinese people rises high above and will not be quieted by violence. "We will all repent in this generation not only for the hateful words and deeds of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." Martin Luther King



3. At first glance, you could mistake this work as just another in the growing "I survived the Cultural Revolution" genre of books. However, while this does address Liu's treatment during the Cultural Revolution, it goes far beyond typical books of the genre.
   
   In the words of the late-Arthur Miller, "But it is not quite the now-familiar tale of tortures and endless persecution, for there is a powerful stylistic directness, a wealth of detailed observation, and the passionate humanity of a witness and victim of the most surrealistic tyranny of this or any other age." This sentence is the most apt description, and it isn't surprising that it came from someone once persecuted due to perceived political views half-a-century ago.
   
   This is a powerful read. Liu Binyan joined the Communist Party during the anti-Japanese War in the 1940s. His goal was idealistic, borne out of an undying love and patriotism for his country. Sadly, the leaders of the Communist Party didn't have the same idealistic visions held by Liu. Liu was constantly persecuted for trying to help the Party and thus the country. Liu displays a passion for the common people of China that the Party cadres could have learned well from, but by in large would refuse to do.
   
   This is very readable and compelling. As a journalist himself, Liu has presented a compelling tale of the true situation during his life in China. The fact that this is a translation from the original Chinese does little to detract from the attractiveness of the narrative.
   
   Of interest to this China watcher was the use of time-worn phrases that the Chinese Communists use in the media, all of which within China is under their control. While the phrases have changed to some extent, the media in China still uses such phrases to this day.
   
   While this work is a bit dated in that it was published in 1990, many of the methods used by the media and the control of that media by the Chinese Communists hasn't changed significantly since the time this book was published.
   
   This book is a must read if you are interested in contemporary China, or if you are interested in the general topic of the human struggle for improvement and, most of all, liberty.

2 comments about Chinese Politics in the Hu Jintao Era: New Leaders, New Challenges.

1. OK, here's the deal. I have NOT read this book. It is very new. However, I HAVE read articles on CNN.com by the author, and he is a very lucid and insightful analyst, with many contacts and lots of experience reporting on Chinese politics. He actually used to write for the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's main English-language paper, but after the '97 Handover, Lam found himself writing too much on the fringe for editors who were looking for a more favorable look at China issues than Lam was willing to provide. I found this review on Radio Free Asia's website, and thought it was informative.
   
   --Reviewed by RFA Executive Editor Dan Southerland
   
   In late 2003, China's new president Hu Jintao made a speech celebrating the late Mao Zedong. He said not a word about Mao's disastrous mistakes.
   
   According to author Willy Lam, this was a wake-up call for many Chinese intellectuals, who until then had regarded Hu as a reformer who would eventually open up China's political system.
   
   "Given that even official party documents had faulted Mao for having made serious mistakes during the Cultural Revolution...a number of intellectuals in Beijing thought that Hu had gone too far," writes Lam in Chinese Politics in the Hu Jintao Era.
   
   Since President Hu took control of China more than three years ago, China watchers have been debating his effectiveness, his ideological leanings, and his grip on power.
   
   Although Hu's staying power is now proven, his effectiveness is still up for debate. And many are still puzzled over his ideology. What are his deepest convictions? How does his thinking compare with that of previous Chinese leaders?
   
   Apart from Xinjiang party boss Wang Lequan, Hu and Wen were the only two cadres in the 25-member Politburo with substantial experience in the western provinces.
   
   ---Cautious conservative---
   
   Lam resists indulging in wishful thinking about Hu. Instead, he has gathered abundant evidence that Hu is a cautious conservative unlikely to embark on the political reforms that Lam thinks are essential to China's long-term stability.
   
   President Hu, Lam says, "does not believe that there is anything intrinsically wrong" with one-party, authoritarian rule.
   
   Although Marxism has been discredited around the world, Hu still believes that it is a scientific system. And, in Lam's view, Hu is more a disciple of Mao than of the pragmatic Deng Xiaoping.
   
   In foreign policy, Lam says, Hu has secured closer relations with Russia and tilted away from the United States.
   
   To Lam it seems evident that Hu has been following ex-KGB officer Vladimir Putin's approach to muzzling dissent.
   
   After the "color revolutions" in countries such as Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan in the first half of 2005, Hu "repeatedly warned" of the danger of dissident groups and nongovernmental organizations working with "anti-China forces abroad" to undermine communist party rule.
   
   Under Hu, Beijing has tightened its grip over Tibet and Xinjiang. Hu's decision to elevate a political ally, Wang Lequan, party secretary of Xinjiang, to the Politburo, "seems to attest to the leadership's desire to maintain ironclad control over the resource-rich and trouble-prone autonomous region."
   
   The high point for Hu among "liberal" intellectuals inside and outside the party came in the fall of 2002 when he fired China's health minister for covering up the SARS epidemic and seemed to promise more transparency regarding major issues.
   
   ---End of the honeymoon---
   
   By early 2004, though, the honeymoon was over. The party began to crack down on newspapers and television stations that challenged party orthodoxy or dared to report on Chinese society's "dark side." Beijing also began more actively policing the Internet.
   
   The authorities arrested or placed under surveillance dozens of pro-reform and pro-democracy editors, writers and "Net-dissidents." They also targeted lawyers who were defending farmers who had lost their land to unscrupulous local officials.
   
   But Lam is no China basher. On the positive side, Lam points out that Hu appears to be more concerned about the problems of corruption, inefficient government, and the plight of ordinary people than Deng Xiaoping or Jiang Zemin ever were.
   
   Hu's strategy, Lam says, is to position himself as a "people's president" and "a spokesman for the large number of Chinese who had lost out in the course of Deng Xiaoping's nearly three decades of reform and open-door policy."
   
   Lam notes that both Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao have had real experience in dealing with the poorest Chinese. Early in their careers, the two worked in grassroots-level jobs in impoverished Gansu province.
   
   "Apart from Xinjiang party boss Wang Lequan, Hu and Wen were the only two cadres in the 25-member Politburo with substantial experience in the western provinces" of China, Lam says. The other members of this supreme body had ties to Shanghai and other coastal cities.
   
   And both Hu and Wen have proven so far to be more popular than ex-President Jiang Zemin, according to Lam.
   
   A particular strength of Lam's book is that it touches on all aspects of Chinese life: The farmers, the workers, the military, and the newly rich sons and daughters of the Communist Party elite who have plunged into lucrative businesses.
   
   This is a dense book, because Lam supports his conclusions with an incredible amount of detail. But it's also a must-read for those who care about China's rise and its meaning for us all.



2. This book and its author came highly recommended. At first, I was slightly put off with the journalistic/impressionistic style at times almost reading like a compilation of articles with some degree of repetition. I suppose this is the price you pay for the vast and impressive array of sources the book is based on. Patience is, however, highly rewarded as the following systematic conclusions gradually emerge from the very rich empirical material: The Hu/Wen leadership is aware of the downside risks of China's growth model to social instability and hence the party's 'mandate of heaven.' While needing to sustain fast growth to create some 25 million new jobs a year (!) to facilitate social stability, the party also needs to take account of the grievances of peasants dispossessed by land grabs by corrupt cadres and entrepreneurs and migrant workers exploited in the 'world factory' on China's eastern provinces; to address severe problems of pollution (= 8-12 % of GDP) and energy inefficiency; to supply education and public health services to vast segments of the population who have to forsake it for financial reasons and more generally to improve governance to the benefit of 'the masses' in order to remain in power learning from and emulating the longevity of other dominant parties in successful developmental states (Singapore and for a long time Japan and Taiwan) or even European social democratic parties.
   
   However, the author with thought-provoking reference to China's earlier failure to follow the example of e.g. Meiji Japan sheds doubt on the party's ability to act 'out of the box' and implement the necessary reform breakthroughs to maintain social stability and preserve economic progress and thus avoid so-called Latin Americanisation. These reforms include allowing independent trade unions and farmer associations to give the vulnerable and potentially disruptive segments of society the means to self-defense and evolutionary self-improvement; creating an independent judiciary, prosecution and regulatory agencies (environment, financial supervision, state auditors, corporate governance etc.) and instituting elections up to county level to increase accountabililty and checks and balances to the crony and corrupt collusion between party cadres and entrepreneurs - a source of much resentment and disillusion among ordinary Chinese. The author interestingly highlights that China compares unfavorably with other Chinese development success stories in this respect (Singapore + Hong Kong and one could add Taiwan, Korea, and Japan). One senses here the inherent comparative disadvantage of a totalitarian political system relative to mere authoritarian or conservative states in gradually allowing at least a functional minimum of pluralistic representation of interests in society + checks and balances in the political system as means to ensuring social harmony and perpetuation of party rule (cf. the LDP in Japan) in spite of this being the bottom line of the leadership. This self-imposed handicap is all the more telling in view of the author's interesting revelation that the top leadership is perfectly aware that innovation in political and economic institutions was the key difference behind the rise of England and fall of Spain from superpower status in earlier centuries. Far from allowing a minimum of representation + checks and balances,however, the author portrays a seemingly nervous party increasing the pressure even on within the system grievances and reformists (to say nothing of the pressure on the exercise of fundamental freedoms).
   
   In the arena of foreign relations results are better linked to the leadership being less ramshackled by political contradictions of its own creation. Successes include the conclusion of a free trade agreement with ASEAN so far winning the race for influence against a Japan handicapped by agricultural protectionism and laying the first building blocks of a Chinese sphere of influence in the (distant) future; progress towards mutual economic dependence with US; displacing the US as Japan's largest trading partner(including Hong Kong); securing supplies of technology from Europe and Russia (military); securing supplies of raw materials from Asia (100 billion US$ deal with Iran!;), Africa (Sudan, Angola, Gabon) and Latin America (Venezuela, Brazil); improved ties with India to counter upgraded US-India relations perceived as part of a US containment agenda(trade agreements with India on the horizon?); establishment in mid 2005 of a (somewhat obscure) "strategic triangular relationship" with Russia and India to boost economic, energy, high tech and diplomatic cooperation (concrete content supposedly to be fleshed out along the way); countering US influence in Central Asia together with Russia; and increased international standing and leverage playing the part of the honest broker over the North Korean nuclear issue.
   
   Foreign relation challenges particularly in relation to the US stem from China's stance on Iran and Sudan, which one senses China could leverage to greater international influence and prestige along North Korean lines. Add to this well known trade and exchange rate issue. Failure to lift the EU arms embargo helped by the Taiwan related anti-secession law caused Beijing to forego access to high tech military and dual use products from EU countries which could have put immense pressure on US producers and administration to follow suit. Another significant failure is increased rivalry with Japan, which has strengthened defence links with US. The rivalry with Japan is compounded not only by nationalism - which the party in a tell-tale sign of the challenges it faces to maintain social order at times had to struggle to keep under control - but now also by access to essential raw materials, fast growing huge China being a full six times less energy efficient than Japan. A specific example of failure in this respect pertains to Japan's upper hand (so far) in the game for access to Siberian oil where Moscow deftly plays China and Japan against each other to exact maximum concessions.
   
   The big question left by this book is: will China pull it off, gradually grow out of its problems relying on minimum functional solutions as the party leadership believes it can or will it be caught up by the inherent contradictions of its political set-up? I highly recommend this book.