Spent six months with 5 friends reading and discussing China. The goal was to understand what China is and what it wants. In my modern history read I got the impression that China was unique civilizational operating system very different from the western one. This deep dive solidified this impression but also gave me additional ones. The key one being that make contemporary China even more unique that it is the combination of ancient Chinese values (order, duty, family, the collective, foreigners are barbarians or at the very least strange strangers, and of course, the mandate of heaven) together with communism (the party is the vanguard of state and the people). This combination makes its ideology and self image very specific, strong, and, probably, unlikely to change.
Books read:
- Deng Xiaoping, Vogel
- Un-restricted Warfare, Qiao, Wang
- On China, Kissinger
- Age of Ambition, Osnos
- Country Driving, Hessler
- Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics, Huang
- The Governance of China, Xi
- How Asia Works, Studwell
- In the Dragon’s Shadow, Strangio