China Briefing, 1994 (review)

Reviews 491 William A. Joseph, editor. China Briefing, 1994. Boulder, San Francisco, and Oxford: Westview Press, 1994. ix, 235 pp. Hardcover $39.85. Paperback $15.85. This excellent volume keeps to what the title promises: a briefing on important recent developments in China. The focus is on developments in 1992 and 1993, which, given the time needed for information to be collated and presented in Chinese sources, like the Statistical Yearbooks, means that this volume brings thorough and well-researched analyses with little delay. Ofparticular importance is Christine Wong's clear and insightful contribution on China's economy. The key to understanding most ofChina's behavior during the last few years lies in the difficulties in the fiscal system and the delays in banking reform; Christine Wong dissects these topics with admirable clarity. The link between local autonomy and the impossibility ofa monetary policy is analyzed. Richard Louis Edmonds gives a well-structured overview ofChina's environmental issues. One important point is the decision to build the Three Gorges dam, for which Edmonds lines up the detailed arguments of the proponents and the critics. Edmonds' realistic summary of the degradation ofnatural resources and the impact ofpollution emphasizes both the seriousness ofthe situation and its economic and political context. Lynn Webster Paine's chapter on education gives a well-read overview of the educational reforms, and it examines the changes in the educational system in the light ofwhat is happening to the economy. Margaret M. Pearson's chapter on foreign investment and trade is very useful and up-to-date. It covers a vast array oftopics, including the domestic aspects of foreign investment and trade, the link between Hong Kong and Taiwan (where, much to my disappointment, she uses the trendy and suggestive, but meaningless, terminology of"Greater China"), the accession to GATT, and Sino-American economic relations. It may be that relations with the European Union and Japan did not hit the headlines to the same extent, but it is my impression that structurally very interesting developments have taken place in this area during the last few years, a discussion ofwhich would have complemented Pearson's otherwise excellent account. Joseph Fewsmith contributes a superb piece of Pekingology. The most important political developments and power shuffles among the top leadership are© 1995 by University described with great insight. Fewsmith's chapter yields important data and constiofHawai ?Presstutes an impressiveiysuccinct analysis ofthe vagaries ofChinese politics. Dru C. Gladney's chapter on ethnic identity in China serves as a general background chapter, but it does not have the ambition to outline the most recent 492 China Review International: Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall 1995 developments. It is, however, a remarkably germane contribution, which helps the reader understand the complexities of the Chinese population. National identity and ethnicity are some ofthe strongest legitimizing factors underlying the Chinese state, and changes in this field may have enormous consequences. Dru Gladney's analysis is particularly useful since it does not draw any hasty conclusions , but keeps a sound, long-term perspective, founded in excellent scholarship. The chapter on "Rural China in Transition" by Huang Shu-min also maintains a long perspective, and describes rural development in broad strokes. Nancy Hearst's chronology is a very useful and highly selective overview of foreign relations and "dissident" events, interspersed with accounts ofpurely domestic phenomena. The glossary is useful for readers who have difficulty in keeping track ofthe many Chinese names and the specialist expressions relating to China. This volume is useful for those who need a reliable, up-to-date analysis of China. It is just what the businessperson, diplomat, or informed traveler needs while in China—and it is good and worthwhile reading for the China specialist who needs to be kept informed on current matters. Flemming Christiansen University ofManchester Dorothy Ko. Teachers ofthe Inner Chambers: Women and Culture in Seventeenth -Century China. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994. 395 pp. Hardcover $45.00. Paperback. $16.95. In Teachers ofthe Inner Chambers, Dorothy Ko celebrates several clusters ofliterary women who lived and wrote in the Jiangnan region (roughly Yangzhou to Hangzhou) during the long seventeenth century (roughly 1575 to 1725). Ko recovers for us a lost world of...