2021/04/10 11:35 Henry Kissinger (left), Chairman Mao in Beijing. Henry Kissinger (left), Chairman Mao in Beijing. (Wikimedia Commons photo)
This is the second part of a two-part commentary. The first part can be found here. Generally speaking, when we talk about People s Republic of China (PRC) political warfare or variations on that terminology like sharp power we mean the measures China undertakes to shape the policies, positions, or public opinion of other countries. We also need, however, our definition to take into account the efforts of our own citizens who, intentionally or not, effectively help to achieve PRC goals. We need, for example, to consider the words and actions of some of the Americans who have significantly shaped U.S.- PRC relations since 1971.
Ian Easton On Taiwan: From China fantasy to China nightmare
In 2007, James Mann published a book that sent shockwaves through the entire China-watching world. His ideas were more than contrarian. They were radical.
The established authorities flew into fits of rage. How could anyone as well-informed as Mann, a distinguished foreign correspondent and bestselling author, possibly embrace such views? Many scholars felt compelled to cast dispersions on him. Others shunned him. Some did both.
In many ways their reactions were entirely predictable. Mann’s book, The China Fantasy: Why Capitalism Will Not Bring Democracy to China, called into question the bedrock assumptions underpinning US-PRC relations. What if America’s policy toward the Chinese Communist Party regime was based on nothing more than a fantasy? What if the vaunted “China Hands” had it all wrong?