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stephenleary's review
5.0
China is the greatest foreign threat to the US. Decades of pro-China policies and unrestricted engagement designed to produce a democratic China have failed. Appeasement from the administrations of Clinton and Obama have resulted in massive theft of technology, predatory economic practices, and a dangerous Chinese military representing an existential threat to the US.
China remains a communist nation bent on global domination and the destruction of the US. Only since the election of President Trump has anything been done to reverse China's advances and unfair trade practices. Author Bill Gertz concludes that 40 years of appeasement must end. He offers 14 recommendations to deal with the growing Chinese threat, such as disengaging economically, developing asymmetric warfare, and creating a Chinese parliament in exile.
The Chinese threat can be seen across the entire globe, from Hong Kong to the South China Sea, to Africa, and inside the US with frequent reports of technological theft. Trump has begun the process to preserve freedom, prosperity and security, but will other political leaders have the stomach, the conviction, and the foresight to lead the necessary battle?
China remains a communist nation bent on global domination and the destruction of the US. Only since the election of President Trump has anything been done to reverse China's advances and unfair trade practices. Author Bill Gertz concludes that 40 years of appeasement must end. He offers 14 recommendations to deal with the growing Chinese threat, such as disengaging economically, developing asymmetric warfare, and creating a Chinese parliament in exile.
The Chinese threat can be seen across the entire globe, from Hong Kong to the South China Sea, to Africa, and inside the US with frequent reports of technological theft. Trump has begun the process to preserve freedom, prosperity and security, but will other political leaders have the stomach, the conviction, and the foresight to lead the necessary battle?
jasoncomely's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent read that covers all the angles but focuses on military capabilities and strategies.
benrogerswpg's review against another edition
4.0
Very good read. I found this another fascinating and interesting political science book.
I'm enjoying my recent world political reads.
Some really great recommendations in this book. What countries can do.
More really eye-opening strategies.
I found it amazing how much has changed since the book has been released - it hasn't even been that long. Rapid changes.
For a more modern look, I'd recommend the similar book, [b:Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World|48838251|Hidden Hand Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World|Clive Hamilton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1592141398l/48838251._SY75_.jpg|74218203].
4.6/5
I'm enjoying my recent world political reads.
Some really great recommendations in this book. What countries can do.
More really eye-opening strategies.
I found it amazing how much has changed since the book has been released - it hasn't even been that long. Rapid changes.
For a more modern look, I'd recommend the similar book, [b:Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World|48838251|Hidden Hand Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World|Clive Hamilton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1592141398l/48838251._SY75_.jpg|74218203].
4.6/5
miba67's review against another edition
4.0
A blunt wake up call. Hopefully many in our government read this and adjust the long standing appeasement policy with China.
zach_attack's review against another edition
1.0
Roughly 10% of the way through this, Gertz asserts that Xi Jinping admires three people, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and of course Adolph Hitler. He goes so far as to claim that Xi regards Hitler "as a genius and a hero," and that he "had a sculpture produced of the Nazi leader and, at one time, had a display of a Nazi uniform in his residence."
Gertz does not back this incredible claim up with any evidence whatsoever. As someone who has read a good deal about Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), I was quite shocked at the accusation, and quite surprised that Gertz was happy to let it stand without a single reference to a source. Upon turning to the internet, where one can find all sorts of claims against the CCP, fair or unfair, I could find nothing that speaks to the veracity of this claim.
Reading the next paragraph, Gertz seems to attempt to explain this fantastic claim thusly: "Xi admires Hitler for the massacres of Jews and the nationalization of all German companies. The former action is a pattern Xi is following with the mass repression of Uighurs in western Xinjian Province..."
So, what we have here is an author who, 1/10th of the way through a book, makes the very serious accusation that the leader of China openly admires the most infamous mass murderer in history, and he does so not based on any external source, but seemingly because he sees in his own mind a connection between the actions of Xi Jinping and Adolph Hitler.
Even if Gertz could prove that Xi actually admired Hitler, he would then still have to prove that the reason for this admiration was "for the massacres of Jews". Instead, we are left with the incredibly tenuous connection as "proof."
In his explanations of why Xi supposedly admires Mao and Stalin, it's of course because he admires the ruthless, bloodthirsty, and quite frankly evil attributes of these men. He admires Stalin for ruling through fear and mass killings, and Mao apparently for his having lavish banquets during the great famines that killed millions of Chinese and for his proclivity for orgies involving underaged girls taken from the peasantry.
This attempt to paint Xi as a comic book villain, having no moral compass, desiring to emulate the worst murderers in history precisely because of how evil they were is the kind of lazy propaganda I've come to expect from the very same political machine that Gertz is attempting to criticize. The world is much more complicated than "US good, China bad!" To say it isn't is to play the same game that the CCP does with its propaganda machines.
It was clear from the prologue that Gertz is a Trumper. So who do you think he says Xi Jinping hates? Ronald Reagan, of course! What masturbatory garbage.
I had reservations about this book from the beginning, in which Gertz attempts to argue that the CCP is built foundationally upon lies. This is an easy enough case to make. One can look at the way the CCP has militarized the South China Sea, claiming all the while that they are not doing exactly that. They even had the gall to suggest that PLA naval ships that began building airbases on man-made islands were not done at the behest of CCP leadership, but were unilateral actions undertaken by "patriotic" members of their military. One could look at how the CCP refuses to acknowledge that they murdered their own civilians protesting for democracy in 1989 (and that instead their own history books have pictures of dead soldiers, which we are meant to believe were killed by the protesters).
But Gertz ignores all of that, and instead makes his case based on the 2007 Chinese test of an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon, bemoaning the huge debris field it created in orbit. He then describes how the Chinese made repeated statements that it was not a weapon intended against any specific foe when it was clearly intended as a weapon against the United States. That he spends 10 pages on this without so much as a single sentence acknowledging that the United States did this back in 1985 (also creating a serious debris field) and again in 2008 is a stunning omission. The second of these American ASAT launches was ostensibly to destroy a decaying satellite which might pose a threat to humans if enough of its hydrazine survived re-entry. However, given the timing of the launch, it seems quite obvious that the real reason was to show the Chinese that we are still locked and loaded with ASATs. This would be a lie that is roughly on par with those made by the CCP regarding ASATs, but as acknowledgement of that fact would topple Gertz's entire argument, he deftly ignores it.
Once I had read the Hitler comments, I decided that I'd not finish the book, as I wouldn't be able to trust anything that Gertz said that I didn't already know myself. However, I figured I may as well read the next few pages to finish out the chapter and see if the winds changed. Then I came across the laughable, right-wing wet dream assertion that Xi hates Ronald Reagan, and I decided that I'd come far enough.
If you dislike the outright lies and propaganda of the CCP, then you should also despise the outright lies and propaganda in this steaming pile of Trumper bullshit.
Gertz does not back this incredible claim up with any evidence whatsoever. As someone who has read a good deal about Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), I was quite shocked at the accusation, and quite surprised that Gertz was happy to let it stand without a single reference to a source. Upon turning to the internet, where one can find all sorts of claims against the CCP, fair or unfair, I could find nothing that speaks to the veracity of this claim.
Reading the next paragraph, Gertz seems to attempt to explain this fantastic claim thusly: "Xi admires Hitler for the massacres of Jews and the nationalization of all German companies. The former action is a pattern Xi is following with the mass repression of Uighurs in western Xinjian Province..."
So, what we have here is an author who, 1/10th of the way through a book, makes the very serious accusation that the leader of China openly admires the most infamous mass murderer in history, and he does so not based on any external source, but seemingly because he sees in his own mind a connection between the actions of Xi Jinping and Adolph Hitler.
Even if Gertz could prove that Xi actually admired Hitler, he would then still have to prove that the reason for this admiration was "for the massacres of Jews". Instead, we are left with the incredibly tenuous connection as "proof."
In his explanations of why Xi supposedly admires Mao and Stalin, it's of course because he admires the ruthless, bloodthirsty, and quite frankly evil attributes of these men. He admires Stalin for ruling through fear and mass killings, and Mao apparently for his having lavish banquets during the great famines that killed millions of Chinese and for his proclivity for orgies involving underaged girls taken from the peasantry.
This attempt to paint Xi as a comic book villain, having no moral compass, desiring to emulate the worst murderers in history precisely because of how evil they were is the kind of lazy propaganda I've come to expect from the very same political machine that Gertz is attempting to criticize. The world is much more complicated than "US good, China bad!" To say it isn't is to play the same game that the CCP does with its propaganda machines.
It was clear from the prologue that Gertz is a Trumper. So who do you think he says Xi Jinping hates? Ronald Reagan, of course! What masturbatory garbage.
I had reservations about this book from the beginning, in which Gertz attempts to argue that the CCP is built foundationally upon lies. This is an easy enough case to make. One can look at the way the CCP has militarized the South China Sea, claiming all the while that they are not doing exactly that. They even had the gall to suggest that PLA naval ships that began building airbases on man-made islands were not done at the behest of CCP leadership, but were unilateral actions undertaken by "patriotic" members of their military. One could look at how the CCP refuses to acknowledge that they murdered their own civilians protesting for democracy in 1989 (and that instead their own history books have pictures of dead soldiers, which we are meant to believe were killed by the protesters).
But Gertz ignores all of that, and instead makes his case based on the 2007 Chinese test of an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon, bemoaning the huge debris field it created in orbit. He then describes how the Chinese made repeated statements that it was not a weapon intended against any specific foe when it was clearly intended as a weapon against the United States. That he spends 10 pages on this without so much as a single sentence acknowledging that the United States did this back in 1985 (also creating a serious debris field) and again in 2008 is a stunning omission. The second of these American ASAT launches was ostensibly to destroy a decaying satellite which might pose a threat to humans if enough of its hydrazine survived re-entry. However, given the timing of the launch, it seems quite obvious that the real reason was to show the Chinese that we are still locked and loaded with ASATs. This would be a lie that is roughly on par with those made by the CCP regarding ASATs, but as acknowledgement of that fact would topple Gertz's entire argument, he deftly ignores it.
Once I had read the Hitler comments, I decided that I'd not finish the book, as I wouldn't be able to trust anything that Gertz said that I didn't already know myself. However, I figured I may as well read the next few pages to finish out the chapter and see if the winds changed. Then I came across the laughable, right-wing wet dream assertion that Xi hates Ronald Reagan, and I decided that I'd come far enough.
If you dislike the outright lies and propaganda of the CCP, then you should also despise the outright lies and propaganda in this steaming pile of Trumper bullshit.
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