Getting China Wrong

De: Aaron L. Friedberg

Narrado por: Charles Constant

The West's strategy of engagement with China has failed. More than three decades of trade and investment with the advanced democracies have left that country far richer and stronger than it would otherwise have been. But growth and development have not caused China's rulers to relax their grip on political power, abandon their mercantilist economic policies, or accept the rules and norms of the existing international system. To the contrary: China today is more repressive at home, more aggressive abroad, and more obviously intent on establishing itself as the world's preponderant power than at any time since the death of Chairman Mao. What went wrong?

Put simply, the democracies underestimated the resilience, resourcefulness, and ruthlessness of the Chinese Communist Party. For far too long, the United States and its allies failed to take seriously the Party's unwavering determination to crush opposition, build national power, and fulfill its ideological and geopolitical ambitions. In this powerfully argued study, Friedberg identifies the assumptions underpinning engagement, describes the counterstrategy that China's Communist Party rulers devised in order to exploit the West's openness while defeating its plans, and explains what the democracies must do now if they wish to preserve their prosperity, protect their security, and defend their common values.

©2022 Aaron L. Freidberg (P)2022 Tantor

Essential reading

“Getting China Wrong” is essential reading for every citizen of a liberal democracy. It carefully analyzes where the policy of engagement with China failed and proposes alternative courses of action. It also provides historical context, enabling the reader to better understand the significance of the present competition. It inspires hope that capitulation to the CCP’s illiberal dominance is not inevitable if liberal democracies remain resolutely unified in their opposition.