China in World Politics (review)

124 China Review International: Vol. 4, No. 1, Spring 1997 however, this book has contributed to a better understanding ofthe role oflineage , ethnicity, and territorial control in South China. C. P. Lo University of Georgia C. P. Lo is aprofessor ofgeography specializing in the study ofthe interactions ofpopulation and environment as well as the growth ofsmall towns in the Pearl River Delta. mi John R. Faust and Judith F. Kornberg. China in World Politics. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1995. ix, 281 pp. Hardcover $48.00, isbn 1-55587-336-7. Paperback $19.95, isbn 1-55587-427-4. China in World Politics by John R. Faust and Judith F. Kornberg is a comprehensive review ofthe past, present, and future foreign relations of China. It examines both the internal and external factors influencing these relations. After an introduction , the main text is divided into nine chapters dealing with the new ideology in the post-Cold War era, Chinese politics and ideology, the ascendancy ofAdam Smith over Karl Marx, the collapse of the Soviet empire, China and the United States, China and its neighbors in the post-Cold War era, China and Japan, and emerging global regimes and alternative scenarios: 2000 and beyond. At the end ofthe book there is a chronology ofthe path toward most-favored-nation status, and a list of acronyms. Each chapter discusses a number of issues relevant to the chapter heading. At the end ofeach chapter, policy options are offered along with questions for discussion and suggested readings. John R. Faust is a professor ofpolitical science at Eastern Illinois University. Judith F. Kornberg is Director ofSponsored Research at SUNY, Purchase. The two authors first analyze China's domestic development and then its relations with major countries and regions ofthe world. There is no specific study of China's relations with the European Union (EU). This omission is unfortunate because, as China attempts to diversify its economic partners to avoid heavy reliance on the United States and Japan, the economic relationship between China and the EU will become increasingly important to China. y mversityDomestic development and foreign policy are closely related. It is desirable and necessary to discuss China's domestic political and economic development in order to understand its foreign policy. But in a book of281 pages, ninety-nine are devoted to China's domestic development, especially to historical accounts, and ofHawai'i Press Reviews 125 this space is alloted at the expense offoreign relations, which should be the focus ofthe book. Also, the issues discussed in each chapter are presented in random fashion, giving the reader the impression ofa lack ofcohesion within each chapter . Due to this format, the book suffers from repetition. The analyses ofindividual issues are often perceptive and insightful, and the writing is lucid. But most ofthe data are from before 1992, and some ofthe tables contain data for only up to 1987 (pp. 225-226). It is true that most books on international relations are dated when they are published, but this is especially true of this book; the authors should have updated their findings just before publication. What theyhave given us is basically a descriptive historical analysis, not a theoretical study, and there is no application oftheory to the examination ofChinese foreign policy. There are some factual errors in this book. Chiang Kai-shek was not trained in the Soviet Union (p. 33); he only visited the Soviet Union, where he observed the Soviet Red Army, and his actual military training was in China and Japan. Chinese communes are not "county-size" (p. 36); even at the peak of the commune movement in 1958-1959, they were no more than county subdivisions. There was discussion ofa county-sized commune, but the idea was never implemented nationally. The commune was not abandoned in 1961 (p. 36); it was only gradually modified and eventually abolished after Deng Xiaoping launched his economic reform. Jiang Zemin is the head ofthe Central Military Commission, not the "Military Advisory Commission" (p. 55). "?a?G (p. 58) should be taizi. "National Party Congress" (pp. 58 and 59) should be National People's Congress. Li Peng was not legally or formally adopted by Zhou Enlai despite their close...