China Is Not Our Enemy

With President Biden recently describing the Chinese premier Xi Jinping as "a dictator," the shooting down of Chinese balloons in US airspace, the increasing of US military aid to Taiwan, and the banning of US exports of microchips to China, the American drumbeat for a new cold war with the world's second largest economy is getting ever louder. This new found aggression towards China is profoundly mistaken, in the view of authors Jodie Evans and Mikaela Nhondo Erskog. Their crisply focused and richly informative new book, based on years of first-hand experience and extensive research, lays out an accessible history of China, examines its culture and current economic strategy, and in particular focuses on the outlook of the younger generation. It concludes that a strategy of peaceful co-existence will be far more beneficial for working people in both countries, especially for the many Chinese Americans resident in the US, and vital in reducing the risk of a cataclysmic military confrontation between two nuclear powers.

A greater understanding of China is no longer optional in our global village. It is necessary if we want to tackle global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or face critical world issues such as climate change, world peace, and collaborative governance. As China returns to its original path and reinstates itself as one of the key world leaders, it demands to be treated with respect and as an equal. China is not our enemy. Their Confucian roots are strongly grounded in building harmonious human relationships, and we in the West must build our empathy and knowledge so we can see more shades of grey in this complicated world. We all share this planet and its future destiny together, and confrontational Western thinking will only lead to war. This macroscopic view of Chinese civilization and cultural development will help Western educated readers better interpret world events through a broader and deeper understanding of: - Chinese ways of thinking and behaving - China's historical trajectory and trends - Current developments and the context behind and around them The authors suggest that we need to view the Chinese way as complementary instead of focusing on the differences. We should spend our energy and resources improving our world instead of minimizing others to maintain superiority. Each of us can change the world for the better. Let's replace "us versus them" thinking with more "we" and more trust, as mutual understanding and tolerance will enable all of us as humans on Earth to live in greater harmony with each other, and with ourselves.

A greater understanding of China is no longer optional in our global village. It is necessary if we want to tackle global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or face critical world issues such as climate change, world peace, and collaborative governance. As China returns to its original path and reinstates itself as one of the key world leaders, it demands to be treated with respect and as an equal. China is not our enemy. Their Confucian roots are strongly grounded in building harmonious human relationships, and we in the West must build our empathy and knowledge so we can see more shades of grey in this complicated world. We all share this planet and its future destiny together, and confrontational Western thinking will only lead to war. This macroscopic view of Chinese civilization and cultural development will help Western educated readers better interpret world events through a broader and deeper understanding of: - Chinese ways of thinking and behaving - China's historical trajectory and trends - Current developments and the context behind and around them The authors suggest that we need to view the Chinese way as complementary instead of focusing on the differences. We should spend our energy and resources improving our world instead of minimizing others to maintain superiority. Each of us can change the world for the better. Let's replace "us versus them" thinking with more "we" and more trust, as mutual understanding and tolerance will enable all of us as humans on Earth to live in greater harmony with each other, and with ourselves.

In a time where the USA seems frantic to maintain their world domination by funding a crusade for democracy, it is easy to paint China as an enemy that needs to be kept in check. But is world domination the right goal? What about world peace and harmony for all people? The greatest challenges facing humanity now are global in nature, crossing countries and cultures. The world doesn’t need another religious or ideological battle such as democracy vs communism. It needs all the citizens of our world, but in particular our world leaders and advisors, to truly lead in building empathy and mutual trust, promoting cooperation over competition for the benefit of all humanity. As such, a greater understanding of China is no longer optional in our global village. It is necessary if we want to tackle global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or face critical world issues such as climate change, world peace, and collaborative governance. As China returns to its original path and reinstates itself as one of the key world leaders, it demands to be treated with respect and as an equal. China is not our enemy. Their Confucian roots are strongly grounded in building harmonious human relationships, and we in the West must build our empathy and knowledge so we can see more shades of grey in this complicated world. We all share this planet and its future destiny together, and confrontational Western thinking will only lead to war. This macroscopic view of Chinese civilization and cultural development will help Western educated readers better interpret world events through a broader and deeper understanding of: ∙ Chinese ways of thinking and behaving ∙ China’s historical trajectory and trends ∙ Current developments and the context behind and around them The authors suggest that we need to view the Chinese way as complementary instead of focusing on the differences. We should spend our energy and resources improving our world instead of minimizing others to maintain superiority. Each of us can change the world for the better. Let’s replace “us versus them” thinking with more “we” and more trust, as mutual understanding and tolerance will enable all of us as humans on Earth to live in greater harmony with each other, and with ourselves.

In the crucial moment after the Korean War, the United States and the People’s Republic of China circled each other warily. They shifted between confrontation and conciliation, ratcheting up tension yet also embarking on peace initiatives. Tao Wang offers a new account of Sino–American relations in the mid-1950s that situates the two great powers in their international context. He reveals how both the United States and China adopted a policy of attempting to isolate their adversary and explores how Chinese and American leaders perceived and reacted to each other’s strategies. Although the policy of the Eisenhower administration was to contain China, Washington often overestimated Chinese aggressiveness, worrying allies and neutral states. Sensitive to the differences within the Western camp, Chinese leaders sought to convince American allies to persuade the United States to back down. Wang analyzes diplomatic maneuvering over a peace settlement in Indochina, an American defense pact with Taiwan, and the anticolonial Bandung Conference, showing how political pressure pushed American leaders to make concessions. He challenges the portrayal of Communist states as driven by ideology, showing that Chinese leaders adopted a pragmatic policy during these crucial years. Drawing on Chinese, Taiwanese, Russian, Vietnamese, British, and American archival material, including reclassified Chinese Foreign Ministry documents, Isolating the Enemy offers new insight into Chinese diplomacy in the 1950s and U.S. foreign policy under the Eisenhower administration through a nuanced portrayal of Sino–American interactions.

With Deng Xiaoping’s blessing, Mao’s successors scoured the globe for fresh ideas to launch domestic prosperity and global economic power. Yet China’s government did not publicize its engagement with Western-style innovations, claiming instead that economic reinvention was the Party’s achievement alone. Julian Gewirtz sets forth the truer story.

"A very good attempt to give a coherent and consistent account of the China-U.S. contacts during the Cold War.... [R]eaders will certainly gain a better understanding of this interesting and intricate history." -- Zhou Wenzhong, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Few relationships during the Cold War were as dramatic as that between the United States and China. During World War II, China was America's ally against Japan. By 1949, the two countries viewed each other as adversaries and soon faced off in Korea. For the next two decades, Beijing and Washington were bitter enemies. Negotiating with the Enemy is a gripping account of that period. On several occasions -- Taiwan in 1954 and 1958, and Vietnam in 1965 -- the nations were again on the verge of direct military confrontation. However, even as relations seemed at their worst, the process leading to a rapprochement had begun. Dramatic episodes such as the Ping-Pong diplomacy of spring 1971 and Henry Kissinger's secret trip to Beijing in July 1971 paved the way for Nixon's historic 1972 meeting with Mao.