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Start giftingThe China Fantasy
This audiobook uses AI narration.
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Learn moreDoes America’s policy toward China make sense? In this in-depth look at China’s political evolution and its future, Mann explores two scenarios popular among our policy elite. The soothing scenario foresees the gradual spread of democracy and human rights, but in the upheaval scenario, the contradictions in Chinese society between rich and poor and between the openness of the economy and the unyielding Leninist system will eventually lead to a revolution, chaos, or collapse.
Mann also poses a third scenario: What will happen if Chinese capitalism continues to evolve and expand but the government fails to liberalize? And why should this matter to Americans? In The China Fantasy, Mann explores this scenario and offers a startling vision of our future with China that will have a profound impact for decades to come.
James Mann, previously Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, is author-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. He is the author of Rise of the Vulcans, About Face, and Beijing Jeep.
Jeff Riggenbach (1947-2021) narrated numerous titles for Blackstone Audio and won an AudioFile Earphones Award. An author, contributing editor, and producer, he worked in radio in San Francisco for more than thirty years, earning a Golden Mike Award for journalistic excellence.
Reviews
“[An] angry, lively little book…Like all good polemics, this one raises more questions than it answers…Mann has done a fine job.”
“If Americans revered veteran China correspondents the way Chinese communists revere their founding revolutionaries, former Los Angeles Times bureau chief Jim Mann would justly be hailed as an ‘immortal.’”
“Exceptionally clear without being patronizing…[Mann] has written…one of the clearest and most searching critiques of those who have unhooked their brains and hearts when it comes to the suffering of hundreds of millions.”
“Mr. Mann has perfectly described the blend of hope and cynicism that currently underpins American policy toward China.”
“This little book, The China Fantasy, is worth more than many fat tomes. It will sharpen the minds and tongues of the China watchers and debaters no matter where they stand.”
“Narrator Jeff Riggenbach’s deep voice reads the material straight from the page. His ‘no frills’ style and perfect diction never drop or mispronounce a word, allowing listeners to concentrate on the information.”
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