Page 66 - Insight 2018

REVIEW SHACK On China, written by the infamous American The author captures the reader’s attention by detailing how Deng

By Jahanzeb Taj
(Chief Business Operating Of cer)

Xiaoping took over the premiership after Chou En-lai. Despite being an
Foreign Minister Mr. Henry Kissinger, is a
masterpiece if you want to learn about the
arguing against the implementation of red revolution; especially its
Chinese political, social and industrial evolution in
clauses that stated to burn down universities. Consequently, the
the last 2000 years. This immaculately scripted
educated community of the society had to suffer so much so that the
description of the evolution of the Chinese society important senior member of Chinese Communist Party; he kept on
will be a delightful read for students of history country was left with less than 20 PhDs. He was a victim of the wrath of
especially. Chairman Mao, but stood alongside the principles he believed in and
many a times, was placed under house arrest. He also had to suffer
The book sheds light on how the Chinese society huge family casualties at the hands of Chinese Communist Party. In
has largely been agrarian with strong monarchs ruling the country as the spite of all this, he always stayed loyal to the Communist Party and
“heavenly representatives”. China has largely been a legacy society with maintained his unique position as an individual fit to handle the Chinese
strong family units. During the colonial era, many European countries, as society on the social, political and commercial dimensions.
well as Japan, had a huge presence in China. However, because of
China’s vastness, none of these countries were able to colonise it. After he took charge in 1978, he started implementing his form of
Moreover, the Chinese bureaucracy was prudent in its approach and communism, holding a strong presence in education and giving the
kept on giving the most favoured nation status to all these countries in right to profit to the individuals in the society for commercial ventures.
such a way that their interests overlapped, and ultimately all had to The part that fascinated me the most in Henry Kessinger’s account was
abandon the pursuit of dominance of the Chinese society. Deng Xiaoping’s commitment to improve and enhance the educational
level of the Chinese society. It was great because he himself looked
The book also highlights how China went through opium wars and many after the education ministry for 5 years, inviting learned Chinese from all
vicissitudes during the colonial era, which led to people rejecting the over the world and by engaging one of the best global management
monarchy with heavenly representation in the 20th century. This caused consultancy firms; Goldman Sachs, to develop a curriculum for the
the society to split across two kinds of warring factions. One, under Chinese students tailored on the format followed by the industrial
Chiang Kai-shek and the other headed by Mao Tse Tung’s Communist nations of the world.
party. Somehow, during that regime, Americans misread the situation
and sided with Chiang Kai-shek who lost the civil war and had to take the
refuge in Taiwan under the protection of American influence. Interestingly, MR. HENRY KISSINGER UNDER THE PRESIDENCY
after taking over, Mao launched his plan of disciplining the 4000 years old OF RICHARD NIXON, LAUNCHED A DIPLOMATIC
legacy society through aggressive and at times brutal techniques. During
his regime, which lasted until almost 1970, the Chinese launched INITIATIVE IN THE EARLY 70S, WITH THE HELP OF
agricultural revolution programme once and the industrial revolution plan PAKISTAN AND NORWAY
twice. All failed miserably resulting in China losing almost 30 million
people by the end of 1960s.

The book also draws attention to how Chou En-lai, who was the premier Simultaneously, he also started privatizing major state-owned
at the time, launched the red revolution regimes under his administrative enterprises in different sectors such as oil and gas, telecommunication
regimes and was able to steer the nation until almost the mid-70s. and mining. The Chinese society started growing in double digits under
However, the Chinese society could not gain prominence on the world his regime and he successfully managed to accomplish the long
stage. It was also during his regime that the Chinese went through the outstanding dream of Mao to establish China as one of the best
Vietnam and Korean wars. In a nutshell, apart from creating the huge industrial nations of the world. Deng Xiaoping served until his retirement
discipline, Mao could not deliver much in providing any prominence to in 1989 and died peacefully in his house liberating the nation from the
China. clutches of misery, deprivation, chaos, bad governance, and illiteracy.
The Chinese hold him in extreme respect for what he delivered for the
However, after figuring out their mistake of misreading the Chinese nation. The author also highlights how the industrial framework of the
situation in early 30s, Mr. Henry Kissinger under the presidency of modern Chinese society is based on the German format, while the
Richard Nixon, launched a diplomatic initiative in the early 70s, with the governance and policy framework was primarily adopted from
help of Pakistan and Norway and finally managed to develop the American society. American universities, policy-makers, and
diplomatic relationships with China, whilst Taiwan continued to stay the consultants were hired without jeopardising the core elements of the
bone of contention. It is noteworthy however, that both the countries Chinese communist society, but full benefit was taken of the modern
-
understood the importance of bilateral relationships and continued their enablers available with the most modern countries. The crux of the book
cooperation on many fronts due to their vested interests; the Chinese is the framework regarding how to develop the society and how a strong
had been abandoned by the Russians many a times, while the layer of discipline provides the platform to use education to develop the
Americans wanted to stop the expansion of the Russian influence in society in a decade, which can challenge the top most industrial nations
China. of the world now.

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