China Today: How Population Control, Human Rights, Government Repression, Hong Kong, and Democratic Reform Affect Life in China...and Will Shape World Events into the New Century, Vol. 1 FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
In a richly informative, panoramic report on modern China, the Shanors observe that the failure of Beijing's attempt to impose a limit of one child per family has exacerbated a host of problems, including overpopulation, rural underemployment and mass migrations to already overburdened cities. This husband-and-wife team lived and worked in China on and off from 1984 to 1993: he, a Columbia University journalism professor, taught journalism to students in Beijing; and she was an editor for the Xinhua News Agency. Urging U.S. leaders to exert ``quiet pressure'' on behalf of Chinese human rights activists, the authors explore how China's writers and filmmakers have managed to escape the state censorship that stifles newspapers and broadcast stations. The Shanors air Hong Kong citizens' fears that their freedoms will be crushed when the British colony reverts to mainland control in 1997. This lucid primer also looks at pervasive corruption, looming mass unemployment, repression in Tibet and the power struggle likely to erupt when Deng Xiaoping dies. Photos. (Apr.)
Library Journal
The authors, a husband-and-wife team, lived in China for nine months in 1984-85, for three months in 1987, and for one month in 1993. The purpose of their book is to describe to a lay audience what they saw. They used Chinese-language interpreters in China to talk to "ordinary people in the cities and countryside" and China specialists in the United States and China to contextualize their observations. Their contribution to the vast body of literature written by nonspecialists is that they keenly observe changes in the landscape, showing how economic development has moved beyond the metropolitan areas. The shortcoming of their expos lies in its scattered, digressive approach in discussing major topics. For example, one-third of the chapter on China's baby boom is devoted to social problems that the authors do not directly relate to the problems of overpopulation. In the chapter titled "The Questions of Taiwan and Hong Kong," they do not address the subjects of Taiwan and Hong Kong until 17 pages into the text. Not recommended.-Peggy Spitzer Christoff, Oak Park, Ill.
BookList - Mary Ellen Sullivan
The whole world seems to be watching China today as it takes its place in the global scheme of things. How can it compete with the West but keep Western influences at bay? What is the role now of the Communist Party? What are the ramifications of foreign investments? How will the new prosperity be distributed among the people? What does the future hold for Hong Kong? Are things really improving? How repressive is the government today? These are some of the questions the Shanors asked as they interviewed Chinese from all walks of life and observed the ramifications of the new China firsthand. The answers are as complex as the questions and oblige the Shanors to explore history, economics, foreign policy, and other fields as they relate to what's happening in China today. The Shanors afford a cohesive, balanced look at an unwieldy subject.
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