After Tiananmen: The Rise of China

by Vijay Gokhale

On a snowy day in January 1998 Xu Zengping, a Chinese businessman based out of Hong Kong, stood on the deck of the Varyag, a partially constructed aircraft carrier that was being built by the Soviet Union at a shipyard on the Black Sea. Six years later, Xu had apparently bought it for US$ 20 million. It was reported that his firm had no licence, no real address and assets of only US$ 125,000, so it is unclear how it could afford to buy the ship. The report concluded that the Varyag had been bought by the PLA Navy for copying its technology.

After the end of the Cold War, China was faced with fundamental challenges - and had to make some critical choices. After The Rise of China is the story of how it handled its complex domestic and external environment while silently ascending the hierarchy of world power.

The book traces the developments in contemporary China from 1989 to 2010, delving into the country's initial political and economic experiments. It examines the adeptness with which challenges like the 'Malacca Dilemma' and the resources crunch shaped Chinese policies; how, in the process, the very character of the Chinese Communist Party was fundamentally transformed; and the twists and turns in India's relationship with China.

The sequel to Tiananmen The Making of a Protest, this is an essential primer for those who wish to understand China's behaviour today.

Genres: China, History, Nonfiction

273 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 27, 2022

Reviews

[Prateek Swain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well written and full of insights. Vijay Gokhale taps into his vast years of experience in the Indian Foreign Service having been posted to Beijing during the Tiananmen crisis as well as his extended stints in Taipei to craft a well researched and articulated book on the Rise of China. While his summary of their rise post Deng has been well documented, it was his insights from his personal experience, interactions etc that elevated this read for me.

[Vineeth Nair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb read on China's course correction and rise post Tiananmen. Covers the role Rongji & Jiang Zemin silently played to help the rise.

[Darshan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambassador Vijay Gokhale spent almost four decades in the Indian Foreign Service and for the majority part of his career, he was somehow connected to the enigma named 'China'. After Tiananmen: The Rise of China is his third book where he narrates the journey of China to become an economic and military superpower (soon to be superpower). Many people believe that economic reforms started by Deng Xiaoping led to the rise of China which Xi Jinping accelerated, and 20 years in between were considered to be a peaceful interregnum. The author countered this myth by providing a deep analysis of those 20 years, first under Jiang Zemin and then under Hu Jintao. The story of china, which pose threat to global security, lies in those 20 years. Hu's successor Xi Jinping leveraged the relative power that China gained in those years to make china a strong player in global affairs. This book is a must-read for all the china watchers, especially in India.

[rahul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful account of how China carried out the course correction post Tiananmen Incident and Fall of Soviet Union…ascertaining the relevant lessons and incorporating them in own reforms to grow into a global super power….This book dwells in deep the transformation of China in 1990s and early 2000s alongwith the Challenges they faced owing to these transformations…. The language used is simple, plain and easy to understand….. Overall one of the finest works by any author to understand how China had transformed itself as a nation in just two- three decades, which initially had near parity with India to a Global Superpower competing with USA for the numero uno in global world order ….A true masterpiece by Mr Vijay Gokhale ….

[Amit Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book focuses on the period between 1989 (Tiananmen incident) and 2012 (rise of Xi Jinping) i.e. the Jiang-Hu period and captures the rapid transition in China's economy, defense strategy (Malacca Dilemma) and foreign policy (with west, India and others like ME and Africa).

[Avishek Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping read for anyone who is interested in geopolitics and the tale of China's economic and strategic rise in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protests

[Ananta Pathak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book giving a peek into how China became one of the world power aftermath the decades of Tiananmen. Vijay Gokhale is an authority on China and his writing in the book shows it. An engaging read

[vikram chandran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, but somewhat short on detail and with no insight into China, post - Xi Jinping. Somewhat disappointing given the author's extensive experience within China.

[Arjun]

Bookmark...
Chapter 2

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of 20 years of Chinese political (and economic!) history, preceding the presidency of Xi Jinping. Given the author’s own role in the Indian foreign service, he is writing from a very Indian point of view - which at times can feel a tad too biased a perspective.