Title: China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power
Author: Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Publisher: First Vintage Books Edition
Pub. Date: August 1995
ISBN-13: 0-679-76393-7
Pages: 490pp

China Woke Me Up

I’m going to take a chance that I’m going to get a bad grade for this review and deviate from my usual style of book reporting to more of a discussion format. I’ve read two history books, one on China, and the other on India. Both were fascinating as I got to see the origin of both civilizations’ cultures. But when picking up China Wakes, I had a different reaction altogether. It’s very difficult to read about China and not become emotional. When I read China wakes, there were times when I was absolutely livid, and also times when I was in admiration of this great country. The book reads much like a critical commentary of Chinese government and society, but other times like a defense of a misunderstood nation. I am writing in such ambiguous terms because that’s what China is, I found by reading China Wakes. It is what you think it is, and also not what you think it is. Being an ABC (American Born Chinese), I have a particular love the country of my roots. Although, I’ve never lived in China for more than two months, I have a certain attraction to it. Like this is my home. When I first began to talk to Chinese students, I was a prideful American with the same answers as most Americans about Chinese repression and the lack of freedom. At that time, a student at Ren Ming University’s English Corner told me that when people talk negatively like about your country, it’s like someone talking badly about your mother. While I had no particular love for the country back then, I had a little bit of American pride… at least enough to understand where this student was coming from.

Since then, I’ve been studying China. Looking for ways to immerse myself in the culture to really understand its people. That being said, I found myself strangely upset when China was criticized by Kristof and Wudunn. In some ways, I want to see 1/5 of the world’s population rise above the rest and show the world what they are truly capable of. In the book, Kristof makes the observation that if China were to achieve an economic boom similar to that of Taiwan in the 1960’s or 1970’s, China would have an industrial might greater than the rest of the 4/5ths of the world economies combined! On the other hand, I find myself disgusted at the way humans are left to die as a result of poor healthcare in parts of the country, how women are abused at work with sexual harrassment and treated as lesser people because of their gender, or how absurd the idea of "saving face" or being prideful is when one really sits down to think about it. I’m not sure if I will ever be able to find an image of China that’s in clear focus.

Justifying the Government

The big ‘T’s were always interesting to me due to their "human rights" violations. Are the T’s really being slaughtered by the government? Kristof seems to think they are oppressed. Does their fascist (as Kristof calls it) government have the right to torture, murder, and humiliate its own citizens just because their system of government has lifted 180 million Chinese out of poverty? Mao Zedong did the impossible, broke China free of the Nationalists and made progress in major areas of Chinese society including women’s rights, raising the poverty line, and unifying the country (one of the biggest achievements of any government of China). But does that justify the famine and the corruption that comes with it?

One question I’ve always asked myself is: "Why won’t democracy work in China?" My conclusion that "the communist government was the one to survive and is doing good for the people" doesn’t fly with Kristof. I am trying to justify the government in my mind. I know they are not perfect, but if they are doing good for the country, then why not support them? One of the main points that Ms. Wudunn makes about human rights is that it is a problem, but also that it isn’t as bad as it once was. The authors argue that a middle class is forming (in 1995, now it is already here) that will demand more rights and more representation. I don’t see that in today’s China. I see people are having more luxuries and can afford a better life. I see that people are still so focused on chasing money as they were in 1995. However, other than extremist provinces like Tibet, Taiwan, and possibly Xinjiang, we don’t much unrest. Who can be unhappy with an economy that is rising? Who would dispute a government that is doing good for you?

Chasing the Money

One of the most common question I get asked when I go to China is, "How much is [some item] in America?" My question to them is, "Why can’t you just be happy with the life you have?" This book points out that there are many people who are seeking opportunities in business. Sichuan is a common area, where just recently entrepreneurs start businesses of all kinds, including tourism businesses in Tibet. (Tibetans hate Chinese for commercializing their culture) There are many who are getting rich… and they’re not government employees. They work private firms, not the state. And with the vast amount of wealth they have, most likely gotten through "white", "black" and "grey" money, they can bribe almost any sins they’ve committed away. They are virtually untouchable. It is both encouraging and frightening. Encouraging because private individuals are gaining a foothold privately away from the government controlled economy (although land and banks are still controlled by the state). Frightening because corruption is evident just in the way they do ordinary business. Bribes are not seen as wrong, but just a way to get things done. When reading China Wakes, I fear for the morality of China.

One Child, One Dream

Another moral issue surrounding China that was mentioned in the book, is the one child policy and its associated ugliness: forced sterilizations and abortions, governmental corruption and abuse of the policy, negative population growth effects, and just backwards policy making. So often in Chinese history, something that was meant for good becomes a social stigma. How can a government enact such ridiculous policies? It’s the same power that gives them the ability to send relief quickly to Sichuan when an earthquake happens, and the same power that enables them to move markets quickly to adjust, according to Kristof’s theory of China being a "market-leninist" state. But the effects of raising a spoiled child have social rammifications that include the little emperor problem and sex-selective abortion. What may be sickening to us may be commonplace to them. And that’s what really gets me. I ask myself, "How can these people NOT think that forcing a woman into sterilization or forcing abortions is wrong?" It is true that the one-child policy is one of the most hated policies by the peasants since they need the extra sons and daughters to help them with their poor life. Not only that, but sons are needed, which leads to a skewed male to female ratio, about 115:100 males to females.

Closing Thoughts

Even Kristof himself admits at the end of the book that after living in China for years, they still cannot give a clear answer on just what China is. This is an older book from 1995, and many events have happened since this book was written. However, the fundament of the culture still exist and begs so many questions that I am eager to discover in China. I cannot say that I know China, even after reading 1000 pages of Chinese history, along with China Wakes. I can only say that experience tells the story best, and that China Wakes has broken my molds of what China is, something I hope to piece together when I am there.