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The China Wave
Rise of a Civilizational State
Zhang Weiwei
The China Wave is a Chinese bestseller and a geopolitical book for our times. As a leading thinker from China, Zhang Weiwei provides an original, comprehensive and engrossing study on the rise of China and its effective yet controversial model of development, and the book has become a centerpiece of an unfolding debate within China on the nature and future of the world's most populous nation and its possible global impact.
China's rise, according to Zhang, is not the rise of an ordinary country, but the rise of a different type of country, a country sui generis, a civilizational state, a new model of development and a new political discourse which indeed questions many of the Western assumptions about democracy, good governance and human rights.
The book is as analytical as it is provocative, and should be required reading for everyone concerned with the rise of China and its global implications.
Zhang Weiwei was the former senior English interpreter for Deng Xiaoping and he is a professor of international relations at Fudan University and a senior research fellow at the Chunqiu Institute, China. He is concurrently a senior fellow at the Centre for Asian Studies, Geneva, and a visiting professor at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations. He has written extensively in English and Chinese on China’s economic and political reform, China’s development model and comparative politics.
"One of the most popular books on sale in China at the moment is on the rise of a civilizational state, by Zhang Weiwei. Mr Zhang argues that China is unique as ‘the world's only amalgam of an ancient civilization and a huge modern state’, and is ‘increasingly returning to its own roots for inspiration, and producing its own norms and standards."
- The Economist: Nothing New under Heaven
"As China feels its own economic and political strength in the world, it is natural that its own intellectuals should want to explain China's progress theoretically, first to themselves, then to the world. Prof. Zhang's book has been well regarded within China, making a major contribution to the internal debate on China's future. By translating his book into English, Prof. Zhang adds to the world's understanding of China's development and what this means for the world. China's astonishing re-emergence on the global stage has thrown into confusion traditional western-dominated theories of modernization, in Prof. Zhang's own words, putting ‘an end to the End of Civilization’."
- George Yeo, Former Foreign Minister of Singapore
"The China Wave: Rise of a Civilizational State is the geopolitical book for our times. It frames the rise of China, which is the big story of the 21st Century, with a bold and novel theory that challenges conventional wisdom of national structure, democracy, and what constitutes good governance. At a time when American exceptionalism is on the wane, are we ready for Chinese exceptionalism on the rise? Zhang Weiwei, whose energetic vision resonates well among Chinese future leaders, makes a compelling case. His arguments and insights, as analytical and passionate as they are confrontational and controversial, should be required reading for everyone concerned about China. Ignore this book and you will not understand how China's leaders think."
- Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Author, How China's Leaders Think
"The rise of China is the biggest story of our time and the best story-tellers of our time come from the West. This has led to a huge global paradox where the best story-tellers have failed to understand the biggest story of our time. This is why the world urgently needs good Chinese story-tellers to provide the Chinese perspective. Prof. Zhang has done the world a huge favor by coming out with this timely and interesting new perspective on the rise of China."
- Kishore Mahbubani, Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
9781938134012 $37.95 World Century Paperback 208pp
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